Petroleum
by acoolgirl
Summary: In which Madge Undersee lives, and that makes all the difference. CF canon divergent.
1. The Phoenix

Like most people, Madge's childhood memories are hazy; a sequence of blurry photos with an occasional frame that stands out in its clarity. One such memory, in which Madge can close her eyes and relive the moment perfectly, is her very first day of school. She had been bouncing up and down in excitement the night before, so much, that Rosa, the Undersee housekeeper, had added a teaspoon of honey to her nightly glass of milk so she would be able to sleep.

Mother had woken her up with a gentle kiss to her forehead.

"Are you ready for your first day, sweets?" Mother had whispered, brushing a stray hair behind her ear.

Almost instantly, the sleepiness had left Madge's eyes and she was grinning widely, throwing her small arms around Mother's neck, pulling her into her warm and happy nest.

"Yes, Mama!"

That was the last time Mother had ever woken Madge up, her headaches only increasing with age, which meant an increase in morphling dosages as well.

So when Madge is violently shaken awake, only to open her eyes to see her frantic Mother, Madge is confused to say the least.

"Wha's going on?" Madge slurs, her mind still not yet awake.

"Madge you must get up immediately!" Mother cries, giving her one last shake before going over to Madge's closet.

Madge sits up completely and realizes that Father is in the room as well- packing away her clothes?

Flinging the floral quilt off of her, Madge has just slid out of bed before Mother thrusts an outfit into her hands.

"Change into this, now!" Mother orders and Madge is no longer sure if she's actually awake because this possibly can't be happening.

"Madge, please listen to your Mother," Father speaks up, and Madge takes in how panicked he looks. She's known her Father all her life, and she's never once seen him this uncomposed. "The district is in grave danger, you need to go to Rosa's house and evacuate."

Madge gasps, as icy terror seeps into her bones.

"What is going on?" she demands, unable to take not knowing what's going on a second more.

Father opens his mouth to respond but is cut off by the sound of frantic knocking coming from the main door downstairs. Without another word he rushes down to answer it, leaving Madge with Mother.

"Change!" Mother hisses, practically tearing Madge's nightgown off of her. With jerky movements, Madge complies and a minute later she's in corduroys, a t-shirt, sweater, jacket, and boots.

"Isn't it too hot for this?" Madge asks in complete confusion as Mother ushers her out of her room and downstairs.

"Let's hope that's the least of your worries," Mother says tightly, and Madge wants to pull her hair out- why won't anyone tell her what's going on?

"I'm here for Madge."

That voice. Madge knows that voice- she'd recognize it anywhere. Deep and strong, like its speaker. But why is he here? Moreover, why is he here for her?

"Gale?" Madge whispers as she rounds the corner of the stairwell, finding Father and Gale in the entryway.

Gale only glances at her for a second before looking back at Father.

"I saw the hovercrafts, we have only minutes before this entire place is bombed to hell," Gale explains quickly. "We need to leave now."

Madge's knees nearly give away. She had known something bad was going to happen after the Quarter Quell blackout, everyone did, but wiping out the entire district?

"They're waiting for Thread and his men to clear out, the train is set to depart in about ten minutes," Father says to Gale. "I'll go to the Justice Building and cut the power so you can get past the fence and into the woods."

"No!" Madge cries out. "You can't Father, you won't make it!"

Father captures her in his arms suddenly and presses a kiss to the crown of her head.

"I must, my daughter," he says in a strangled voice. "All my life, I've never been able to help this district that I love. The time has come when I finally can. Please, you must understand."

Madge doesn't understand, and her eyes are burning from the hot tears that are spilling out of them.

"You can turn off the power?" Gale asks from behind them, reminding Madge of his presence in her house.

"My dear boy," Father smiles sadly. "All those years the fence was off, you thought that was mere coincidence?"

Gale stares at Father as if he's seeing a man he's never realized was there, but Madge has known the goodness of her Father's heart for her entire life, and she refuses to part with him now.

"I won't leave without you," Madge says as steely as she can while crying. Turning to Mother, she adds, "Without either of you."

"Margaret," Mother says quietly, and in the moonlight coming in from the open door, she looks more of a ghost than a person. She lifts up a pack that was on the entry table and helps Madge shrug it on, just as she did all those years ago with Madge's first backpack. "You must live. I knew from the day you were born, you were a very special girl. Your life cannot end tonight."

"You," Mother addresses Gale for the first time in her life, and her tone is neither haughty nor demanding. Instead, it is soft, almost loving. "Please, take our daughter. You have both my husband and I's blessings"

Gale nods and takes Madge's hand. Madge is shaking so violently she doesn't even know how she's still upright. As she scrambles through her yard behind Gale's silhouette, she can't help but look over her shoulder. The last sight she has of her parents are them standing in the doorway of her childhood home, smiling and waving at her as if it's her first day of school.

"Come on," Gale says gruffly, tugging her along. His legs are much longer than Madge's and she's barely keeping tempo with his running pace. It's just been a few minutes and Madge's lungs are already burning. There aren't many townsfolk running, and Madge wonders if anyone warned them. Madge wants to run and knock on every door, to scream run but she knows she'll never make it, if anything she'll bring out the Merchants into the open where they'll die faster.

Her sight is blurry from her tears, so she doesn't see the rock in her path, and trips over it, her wrist landing painfully on the coal smeared ground.

"Get up, Undersee!" Gale barks, not giving her a moment to recover from her fall. "Those bombs could fall any fucking second!"

Her collision with the ground has cleared her head some, and she realizes that she still doesn't know why Gale risked his life to come into town to save her of all people. But she barely has enough breath to run, let alone speak, so she swallows down her questions like they're bile, her vision growing spotty from her depleting oxygen levels.

"I can't," Madge wheezes painfully, trying to gulp in as much air as she can. "I can't run anymore."

Before Gale has the chance to respond, the ripping noise hovercrafts make when they fly at high speeds tear through the sky, followed by the lonesome crescendo of a singular warhead falling.

For one terrible, terrible moment, all Gale and Madge can do is watch the bomb fall in the middle of Seam, a brilliant orange hue stretching into the sky, before a deafening boom cracks throughout the entirety of the District.

Then the shockwave hits them.

Madge is blown backward, her head slamming painfully against the brick wall behind her, before crumbling into a writhing ball on the ground once more. There is a loud buzzing in both of her ears and it feels as if the axis of the very Earth has been tilted, that's how dizzy she is.

She's barely able to pull herself onto her hands and knees before she's vomiting her dinner from earlier that night. She regrets not holding it in, because each heave felt like a dagger being stabbed in the back of her head.

Her shoulder is being shaken, and she looks up to see a blurry Gale, skin bright red from the heat of the explosion, and soot smudged almost everywhere on him, yelling at her. She wants to tell him that she can't hear him, but the throbbing from the base of her skull makes it difficult to keep even her eyes open, let alone open her mouth and use her tongue.

She really is her Mother's child. All she needs is the morphling, and then she can die just as wasted as her Mother has always been.

Gale seems to have given up on trying to communicate with her because suddenly Madge is being lifted up. The sudden movement makes Madge's skull feel as if it's cracking in two, but Gale ignores her, tossing her over his shoulder like how he used to with his game bag, and then they're running once more.

Even though it makes her feel as if her head is about to fall off, Madge keeps her head up to watch the only home she's ever known, reduced to ashes and death. Two more bombs fall, this time further away from them, so all they feel is the Earth shuddering in pain beneath them. All around her, the once familiar landscape has been so quickly turned into an image that can only be described as hell. Madge knows, without doubt, her parents are dead.

It's only when she hears Gale's panting does she realize her sense of hearing has returned, at least to a point where she can hear something other than buzzing.

"Gale," Madge croaks. "Gale, you can put me down now."

He does so immediately, which confirms her suspicion that he's tired too. Her vision is not as blurry, but if she tries to focus too hard, like she tried to do on Gale's face, her eyes almost roll back into her skull in pain.

"The fence is just over there," Gale pants. Madge follows his gaze to see that a hole has been cut into the fence. So Father had been successful in turning off the power.

As she follows Gale, trying to keep up despite every muscle protesting and her head minutes away from undergoing an explosion of its own, Madge notices that there's a scattering of bodies: people that tried to brave the fence before Father got the electricity.

Madge forces herself to look away from their charred bodies and climbs through the fence hole, Gale right in front of her.

"We need to-" Gale is cut off by the dropping of one more bomb, this one stronger than the past several ones all combined. Once more Madge is thrown forward, though this time her landing is blessedly softer, a shrub bush cushioning her fall.

The screams that had been heard scattered around have silenced completely. All Madge can hear, see, and feel are the vicious red, orange, yellow flames that eat gluttonously through what was once people's homes, dancing almost mockingly through the district as if they taunt her.

We are here! They snicker nefariously. And we have destroyed all that you've ever known and loved!

Madge groans in pain and she climbs out of the bush. The bombs haven't taken everything she loves.

"Gale?" Madge calls, trying desperately to find him through her blurry vision in the illuminated darkness. "Gale, where are you?"

She's answered by a male grunt, and she immediately turns towards the source. Squinting (and ignoring how that makes her eyeballs feel like they're about to liquidize), Madge is able to make out the outline of Gale's body on the grass. Crawling over to him, Madge pushes away his singed hair away from his forehead.

"Gale," she cries meekly, gently taking his face in her scrapped and blistered hands. "Can you hear me?"

"Uraghh…" Gale moans, face scrunching in pain. Madge never thought such a nonsensical sound would bring her nearly to tears.

"Gale, wake up," Madge tries to say as soothingly as she can. "Your family must be worried."

His eyes flutter before Madge is able to see their grays, and even then, they're narrowed in pain.

"Ribs," Gale gasps.

Madge's heart leaps to her throat, and she's able to banish all thoughts of her headache as she lifts his shirt.

On the left side of his upper abdomen is a bruise the size of a baby, already well on its way to blooming.

"Oh, Gale." Madge has to bite her lip to keep from crying, she can only imagine how much pain he's in. And all because of her.

With just her fingertips, she traces up his side, holding her breath as they reach the purple-green discoloration. Gale doesn't flinch though when she runs her fingers up all the way.

"I don't think they're broken," she tells him, tearing her eyes away from the bruise and back at his exhausted face. "Otherwise you would have jerked pretty violently when I touched them."

"Bruised then," Gale says through clenched teeth. Madge nods. "Hell's teeth."

"Let me help you up," Madge offers, but Gale slaps her hand away.

"I don't need your-" Gale hisses in pain before he can finish speaking, doubling over in pain. Ignoring his initial reaction, Madge tucks herself under the arm of his good side, her lips tugging into a smile for a moment as she feels him lean his weight onto her.

Gale is tall. Easily one of the tallest in the district, which means even with the poor diet he no doubt has, he still has a lot of mass, and by the time they've crossed up the hill into the denser part of the woods, Madge feels drenched in sweat from exertion.

She and Gale hobble along slowly, when suddenly out of the darkness darts a younger Gale.

"Gale!" younger Gale exclaims, his hair in complete disarray. "Are you ok?"

"Rory," Gale greets tersely, though the relief in his voice is evident. "Where's Ma and the kids?"

"Forget them, they're fine!" Rory cries, rushing over to extract his older brother from Madge's grip. "What happened to you?"

"Other side, idiot!" Gale hisses at Rory as he tries to wind his arm around his injured side.

"Right, right!" Rory quickly rushes to his other side and Gale finally leans into him, more, Madge realizes, than he had when she was helping him.

A bit awkwardly, Madge follows the two Hawthorne boys into a clearing where the survivors of District 12 lay scattered.

A quick survey tells Madge there aren't many, maybe 800 tops. Out of that small number, there's an even smaller amount of townspeople. That reminds Madge once more that she should be there in Town Center, her bones melting alongside her parents, not here, saved mysteriously by the guy who probably hates her the most in the district.

"Madge!" A woman's voice cuts through her thoughts, and Madge is suddenly swept into the arms of Hazelle Hawthorne.

"Oh thank God you're alright!" Hazelle cries, squeezing Madge tightly. She pulls away from the embrace just enough to study Madge's features.

"Oh!" Hazelle gasps. "I think you've got a concussion! It's a wonder you can see at all with your eyes crossed like that!"

Ah. That explains the piercing headache and blurring.

"Sit down, sit down!" Hazelle helps her lean against a looming oak. "It's a good thing you're wearing layers, saved you from a lot of cuts and burns."

Madge's throat closes almost immediately. Her Mother's last act of love had protected her.

"Let me get Alyssum," Hazelle says, leaving Madge alone. She can just barely make out Gale and his siblings huddled together by a nearby tree. She wonders why Hazelle isn't tending to her son. Why her son is injured because of her in the first place.

And then it clicks.

Hazelle must have told Gale about the morphling. There is no other plausible explanation as to why Gale would run back into a war zone to save the district 'princess' other than to repay a debt.

Madge bites down on her bottom lip until her tongue is met with the metallic taste of blood.

"There isn't any treatment for a concussion," a hollow voice suddenly says. Madge opens her eyes to see Mrs. Everdeen standing in front of her. The woman's pale face is haunted, and Madge remembers that not only has she lost her home, but her eldest daughter also died yesterday. "I'd prescribe you rest, but…"

Whether she stops out of pity or she just doesn't have the energy to continue, Madge knows what she was going to say. Out in the wilderness, there is no place for rest and recovery.

"I'm sorry," Madge blurts, knowing this isn't the time or the place for this, but she has to tell Mrs. Everdeen this because it suddenly hits Madge all over again that her best friend is dead. "Katniss is...was my best friend."

Mrs. Everdeen doesn't say anything, just sways in the wind as if she's a bare tree branch.

"Feel sorry for yourself," Mrs. Everdeen says finally, going over to who Madge presumes is Prim. It's still hard to make out things from a distance.

"Don't listen to her," Mrs. Hawthorne tells her passionately, sitting down beside her. "Alyssum never did well under pressure"

"Mrs. Hawthorne," Madge whispers, unable to look at the older woman in the eye. "Why did you tell Gale?"

Judging by her sigh, Madge knows Mrs. Hawthorne knows exactly what she's referring to.

"I knew that winter night, when I opened the door and you looked like an angel with your windswept hair and red cheeks, that you were a special girl," Mrs. Hawthorne whispers, her voice nostalgic. She reaches over and gently tilts Madge's chin until she's looking at her. Her silver eyes are clouded by a cloud of tears. "I just couldn't let you die, please understand."

Madge is tired of being asked to understand. She just wants to lie down and never open her eyes again. Her parents are dead. Her best friend is dead. Her home rubble. There's nowhere to go and nowhere to return. But Madge doesn't say any of that, why should she? Everyone already knows this, you can tell just by looking at afraid everyone's eyes are.

"Ma," Gale's youngest sibling, his sister, has made her way over, and a strange relief fills Madge to see the small girl totally unscathed. "Why're you sitting here?"

Mrs. Hawthorne gives her daughter a tight-lipped smile.

"Madge's Mother helped a child of mine when he really needed it," Mrs. Hawthorne recounts to the girl. Madge remembers the night her Mother had pressed the three vials of morphling into her hands and had whispered go, her blue eyes hooded with understanding. "So now I'm going to take care of Madge."

This seems to be too long of an explanation for the girl, or she doesn't care enough, because she shrugs her shoulders.

"Gale said you should come to where we are," the girl says sweetly, climbing into her Mother's lap.

Mrs. Hawthorne pushes her out of her lap, much to the girl's chagrin. "You tell your brothers to come here, and tell Gale to quit his bellyaching."

"Ok!" the girl chirps, and Madge wonders how the little girl can be so unaffected by the bombings.

"Posy is a free spirit," Mrs. Hawthorne says by way of an explanation, chuckling. "Nothing gets that girl down. I couldn't be more thankful."

"Mrs. Hawthorne, I-"

"Hazelle," Mrs. Hawthorne interrupts with a smile. "Please, just call me Hazelle."

Madge nods. She's never referred to an adult by their first name before.

"Right, um, Hazelle, Gale's bruised his ribs," Madge says. "I don't think he should move around too much."

Hazelle however, just waves off her concerns.

"He's been through worse, he'll be fine."

Madge swallows tightly, remembering how she had seen the white of his shoulder blade through the lacerated flesh of his whipped back. He certainly has been through worse.

Rory, Posy, and another younger boy all settle beside Hazelle, with Gale trudging behind them. When he reaches them, he wordlessly sprawls onto the grass, very similar to how she had found him in the clearing.

"Hi, I'm Vick," the youngest boy says shyly, and Rory besides him rolls his eyes.

"This is Madge!" Posy introduces. "She's our new sissy!"

"Who said that?" Gale suddenly snaps, still lying down, but face furious. Madge wishes she could get up and walk away from this scene forever, but she isn't sure if her legs will be able to function for the next several hours.

"Didn't you say that, Ma?" Posy asks in confusion. Madge could see how she got that from Hazelle's explanation, but she wishes the little girl hadn't voiced her conclusion aloud.

"Watch your tone," Hazelle says cooly, frowning at her son. "If Posy wants Madge to be her sister, that's up to Madge, isn't that right, Madge?"

"I, um-" Madge falters, unsure how to answer.

"Of course she's our new sister," Rory quips. "Why else would Gale swoop in and save her like this is a fairy tale?"

"To repay a debt," Madge answers immediately before Gale has a chance to. She doesn't need to hear that from him.

"Consider it repaid," Madge says this time to Gale, who's watching her closely.

"Thank you for everything, Hazelle," Madge says as she shoulders her pack. "I think it's time I took my leave."

Hazelle's hand shoots out and wraps itself tightly onto Madge's wrist, effectively anchoring her to her spot.

"Madge, Gale," Hazelle begins sternly. "Whatever differences you have, I want you both to put them away, at least for now. Our homes have been destroyed, yes, but that doesn't mean we're going to be running around like wild animals. Can I expect you two to behave civilly?"

"Ohhhh," Rory snickers. "Someone's in trouble!"

Without even looking, Hazelle smacks Rory upside the head. For a moment Madge wonders if anyone of them even remember that they just narrowly escaped a bombing.

Gale doesn't respond to his Mother, instead settling for glaring at her with a we'll discuss this later look.

Madge, who is in no position to do glaring of any kind just says politely, "Of course, Hazelle."

"Good," Hazelle huffs. "Now let's get some sleep. Lord knows we have a long day ahead of us."

Posy tries to climb onto Gale but he gently pushes her off.

"Not tonight, Pose," he says gently. Posy huffs before going to her second option, climbing onto Rory, who groans but doesn't push her away. Vick scoots very closely into Hazelle's side, and Madge can see now the fear in the boy's eyes now that his older brothers aren't up.

Madge pulls out a water bottle from her pack and allows herself just a sip, not realizing how congested with smoke her throat had been until the water washed it away. She slips off her jacket and sweater, using the former as a blanket and the latter as a pillow once she folded it.

As she slowly lowers her throbbing head onto her sweater, Madge looks up at the sky, the constellations hidden behind the billowing smoke.

I didn't die tonight Madge thinks to herself. Now what, Mama?

A/N:

Being brought over from the archive since I finally retrieved my login. Bi-weekly update until everything is brought over, then updated whenever the newest chapter is done.


	2. Spectere

_The world is on fire._

 _Every turn she takes is met with another wall of fire. Madge spins around desperately, trying to find a point of escape, but it's futile: she's completely surrounded._

 _She collapses on herself, clutching her hair with charred hands, black smoke threatening to obscure her completely when she hears her Mother's voice._

 _"_ _Madge!" Mother screams, her voice splitting with gruesome pain. Madge looks up so quickly her neck almost snaps, and there is her Mother, trapped by debris and rubble, burning away. Next to her is Father. Madge can hear him screaming now too._

 _"_ _Mama! Daddy!" Madge cries, running forward. But as soon as she reaches the flames she is flung back, as if the fire is a force field. "No!" Madge screams, pounding on the flames, begging for them to give her entry, but they do not budge, even when her own hands catch on fire._

 _"_ _Madge," says another voice. Madge turns her head to see Katniss. She's on fire._

 _She wants to say her friend's name, but her throat is raw from screaming. She doesn't get the chance to say anything, however, because suddenly the fire that illuminates her beautiful friend's dark skin expands in luminosity until it feels as if Madge's corneas have been burnt away._

 _She rubs her eyes desperately, still seeing the bright yellow flare behind her eyelids. When she finally opens her eyes, she is no longer in the crumbling Town Center, but in the middle of the woods._

 _"_ _It's alright now," Katniss says softly, the flames that had been dancing upon her had been reduced until it just looked like Katniss was glowing from an otherworldly light._

 _"_ _How can it be alright?" Madge whimpers, falling to her knees once again. She isn't the girl on fire- she's the girl who ran from fire, and even then, barely made it._

 _Katniss crouches in front of her and gently takes her face into her warm hands. Madge is all but forced to meet her silver-turned-orange eyes._

 _"_ _The woods will protect you like they have me," Katniss says lovingly, and Madge wants more than anything to believe her. "The trees do not bend easily, but once its branches entwine around you, you will never have to prove yourself to the woods ever again."_

 _Katniss's hands that still cup Madge's cheeks are on fire again, even though the rest of her body is still just a warm glow. Is Madge just another embodiment of District 12? From its coal to its houses, is she just another fodder for fire?_

 _"_ _No," Katniss answers, as if she can read Madge's mind. "Not fodder, but the very fuel that keeps the fire burning."_

Madge wakes with a start. It's still dark, so that means she's slept a maximum of two hours. Which is a generous estimate, considering how her head is still pounding, and her body is still sore. She's breathing quickly, a lingering side effect of her nightmares no doubt, but Madge focuses more on the conversation she had just had with her dead best friend.

Was that Katniss from the beyond, trying to give Madge advice? Madge frowns as she tries to remember every detail from the dream, already fading into an abyss. Katniss had told her to...trust the woods, prove that she was worthy of being here, and the woods would grow on her.

For someone that was practically defined by her practicality, Katniss had parted with Madge a rather cryptic message.

The sky is still hidden behind great walls of black smoke, which is probably why the temperatures are so low. Madge slowly pushes herself up, and removes her jacket from her legs, wincing as she shrugs it on.

More awake now, Madge suddenly realizes that someone is watching her. A tilt of her head confirms her intuition.

"What?" Madge asks Gale self-consciously, knowing she probably looks like she got run over by a hovercraft.

"You were whimpering a lot," Gale says, watching her very closely. Madge has to physically restrain herself from cringing. 'Whimper' just thinking the word made her feel pathetic, she could only imagine how much further she fell in Gale's eyes as he watched her practically blubbering like a baby.

"I'm fine," Madge whispers, unable to meet his gaze. Not that she can make out much anyways, considering the moon is completely concealed, and a fire someone had made a little bit over has been reduced to just embers.

"It's ok to not be fine," Gale says with a shrug of his huge shoulders. "No one here is."

"Right," is all Madge can say. A stifling silence comes between them, and Madge desperately wishes she were back in her bedroom with its safe, creamy white walls, away from this Seam Boy, and the tumultuous feelings he sparked in her belly.

"What your Father did…" Gale begins suddenly, and Madge has to shut her eyes to fight the sudden welling of tears. Gale clears his throat. "It allowed my family to get out on time, before the bombs fell."

Madge nods. Father had saved many lives this night, at the cost of his own.

"So, I'll let you travel with me and my family."

Madge's eyes fly open, and she has to restrain herself from grabbing her pack and bashing it over Gale's thick head. Repeatedly.

"My _Father,_ " Madge spits at him, fighting to keep her voice steady and low. "Did not sacrifice himself for this District for _you_ to take it as an act of charity. So excuse me, but I'll have to _reject_ that offer of yours."

"Undersee," Gale exhales in frustration. "You don't know what you're saying. You won't last two days alone."

"And what about _them_?" Madge gestures to the refugees around them with a wave of her hand. "You're going to just abandon them?"

"Stop trying to make me a villain!" Gale seethes, face twisted in fury. "Hell's teeth, woman! I can't take care of 800 people!"

Madge purses her lips. She knows that Gale has a point, but she also knows that only Gale has the knowledge required to survive in this terrain. If she were to get up and leave with him, she would be leaving all these people to a certain death of starvation and exposure.

If she did that, she'd be practically spitting on her Father's grave. Not that he has one.

"How much did Katniss tell you about District 8 before she left?" Gale breathes sharply at the mention of Katniss's name and looks at her with narrow eyes.

"Enough," Gale answers haltingly. "Why?"

Madge sits up, and tucks her hair behind her ears, ignoring its now brittle texture, thinking carefully about what to say to him.

"While Mr. Abernathy was still here, I helped smuggle information from my Father's newspapers to him," Madge says quietly. Gale's eyes grow wide, as if he can't believe what he's hearing. "To protect me, Mr. Abernathy kept me in the dark as much as he could, but he couldn't hide the fact that he was part of an underground rebel network."

Gale sits up so quickly that even Madge winces as he hisses in pain.

"What are you saying?" Gale demands. "That there's an organized rebellion? And you've been a part of it all this time?"

Madge just nods, letting him absorb the information.

"Hell's teeth…" Gale stares into the distance, and Madge can practically see the gears turning in his head.

"If we band together, we can set up camp and train ourselves," Madge says. "I'm sure the rebel network will reach out to us, and if not, we can do some damage of our own."

"You're thinking too small Undersee," Gale says with a grin, and despite everything she's been through in the past few hours, her heart still skips a beat to see such a wide smile directed at her. "If what you're saying is true, what would be the most logical place for a rebel headquarters? A place that would stick it most to the Capitol?"

Out of habit Madge nearly hushes him for saying the word Capitol in a treasonous sentence, but remembers things are different now.

"I...I don't know," Madge confesses, not following Gale's train of thought.

Gale shakes his head as if it's the most obvious answer.

"District 13."

"Did you hit your head too?" Madge asks incredulously. "Or do I have to remind you that District 13 was nuked off the map?"

"Use that blonde head of yours Undersee," Gale argues. "We already know most of the shit taught to us is barely even true. Besides, even if they were bombed, enough time has passed for people to start living there again."

Madge bites her lip and tries to weigh the pros and cons. Pro: the remnants of the district come together, and are able to form a commune of sorts which would increase their chances at survival. Con: They wander aimlessly until they hit a nuclear wasteland and die of radioactive poisoning. But. Gale is intelligent, and will probably be able to spot signs of chemical decay before they actually reach a point where it's too dangerous to continue.

"So…" Madge says, a small smile starting to spread across her lips. "To District 13?"

Gale smirks back. "To District 13."

"Lord above me, you two take longer to reach an agreement than Asher and I ever did," Hazelle suddenly mutters from her spot on the ground next to Madge.

Madge's cheeks burn at the insinuation and looks to see that Gale is frowning in annoyance at his once more sleeping Ma.

"Anyways," Madge says awkwardly, tucking her cold hands into her pockets. "Any ideas on how to organize this expedition?"

Here Gale visibly deflates, and Madge is reminded that not only is Gale alone in his knowledge of hunting, but he's also injured.

"Katniss took me into the woods a few times," Madge says quickly. "So I-"

"Wait, what?" Gale interrupts, looking halfway between shocked and livid. "She took you into these woods?"

"If she knew any other woods I'm sure she'd take me there too," Madge says sweetly, taking satisfaction in how her sarcasm annoys Gale. "Back to the point, we both learned pretty quickly I'm no hunter."

"No kidding," Gale mutters, rolling his eyes.

Not bothering to acknowledge his quip, she continues. "But she did teach me a lot about gathering. I'd be happy to pass on that information. With enough of us scavenging, we can get a decent amount of food, no?"

Gale shakes his head. "It could last for a while, but we need protein."

Madge waits for him to continue. Only half of his face is illuminated in the red light of the dying embers, the other half still submerged in the cosmic darkness. It's unfair that this boy literally ran through a burning district, and still came out looking devastatingly handsome. Madge doesn't need a mirror to know she looks like a rat's nest.

"I guess I could teach some men how to set up some snares...maybe get a few fishing lines going as well," Gale muses, then looks at her, which Madge realizes after a moment, for her opinion.

"Oh! I think that's a great idea!" Madge says excitedly, and she's being honest. "We can combine our resources and make sure it's all distributed evenly."

"Easier said than done," Gale huffs. "But it can be done."

"With you leading us," Madge says softly, looking at her scraped knees. "I'm sure we will."

Gale doesn't respond, and Madge feels stupid for saying that out loud. What is wrong with her? Dropping compliments as if she's a schoolgirl hoping to be whisked off to the slagheap. She should really know better.

"Get some sleep, Undersee," Gale tells her, but not unkindly. "I'm gonna need your help if I wanna pull this off."

Hell's teeth! Needed by _the_ Gale Hawthorne? She'll take that over a slagheap haul any day. She gets only about an hour's worth of sleep before Gale wakes her up by toeing her shoulder, but she hadn't seen any more visions of her parents dying. They would want her to fight on, like how Katniss had taught her to do.

So she will.

 _A/N:_

I apologize if this chapter was a bit too metaphorical, but it laid out some really important groundwork, most importantly, how Madge is able to push past the trauma of losing her parents in a very violent way.

Did everyone catch who the woods is a metaphor for? ;)


	3. The Exodus

The morning sun is hidden behind a desolate gray sky. The temperatures are nearing frigid, despite the fact it's August: always a month of sweltering heat in the District. An ashy flurry started sometime between Madge and Gale's conversation and when they both had woken up.

"The smoke is literally hiding away the sun's warmth," Gale had explained to Posy, who was absolutely delighted at the sight of 'snow' in summer. "The flurry has to pass through the smoke, which is why it's falling black."

It made a rather eerie picture; a lush, green forest, slowly being dusted with black demise falling from the skies.

The Hawthorne's and Madge eat a meagre breakfast. Madge allows herself from her pack only three sips of water, and two crackers. It's probably best to ration until there's a more definite source of food.

Gale stands up first, dusting himself off before looking at Madge. "Ready?"

Her head is still aching, and she is suddenly overcome with anxiety. What if she can't properly pass on the knowledge of gathering to everyone? What if she herself never even properly learned it? It isn't as if Katniss had tested her on it. She swallows thickly and nods if only because she can't bear the thought of letting her Father, her District, Katniss, and _Gale_ down so monumentally. Besides, she can't succeed if she doesn't try, right? And if she doesn't try, then she fails by default.

Feeling a bit more confident, Madge stands up, thankfully without much protest from her muscles, which have more or less recovered from last night.

"You gonna call a meeting?" Hazelle asks, helping Posy put on her pack. Madge has to look away from that, memories of her own Mother doing the same thing just hours ago flooding back.

"Yeah," Gale answers, gazing wearily at the still mostly sleeping district. "A meeting."

"Want me to holler?" Rory offers with a wide grin. "I can holler real loud."

"We're gonna need to find a spider first," Vick teases, who finally seems to have awakened, having eaten breakfast in an almost comatose state.

"Oh, shut up," Rory grumbles, as Posy giggles. "It was huge!" Rory tells Madge, defending his honor. Madge has to bite her lip to keep from smiling. She doesn't need two Hawthorne boys that can't stand her.

"I have no doubt it was," Madge reassures him, and Rory's shoulders relax a bit. Vick runs his fingers up Rory's leg to mimic a spider's crawl.

"Enough!" Hazelle scolds sternly when Rory punches Vick in retaliation, holding a now squirming Posy who also wants a turn at punching poor Vick. "Your brother has enough on his mind without you lot stirring up trouble."

"Sorry Gale," Posy apologizes, bashfully toeing the dirt. "Vick and Rory started it."

"Hey!" Vick cries. "That's not true!"

"Gale," Madge quickly interrupts, before another Hawthorne brawl breaks out. As endearing as Madge finds this family, which she really, truly does, there are, unfortunately, more pressing matters at hand. "Can't you just tell them what you told me, about 13? They'll believe you."

"I'm sure they will," Gale sighs, not meeting her eyes. "And that's the problem. What if they believe me, and I lead them all on a death march?"

"You won't," Rory cuts in, surprising everyone. Madge doesn't know much about the boy, but it's clear that being serious isn't exactly his defining trait. "Gale, asides from Katniss, no one knows these woods better than you. After Pa died, and Ma was still recovering, you were the only thing that kept us all from dying. If you did that at 14, I reckon there's nothing you can't do now."

Madge can't help but feel as if she's intruded on a very intimate, brotherly moment, but is honestly too touched to feel bad.

"I…" Gale trails off, looking overwhelmed and joyous at his brother's confession. It seems heart to hearts aren't that common in their household.

"I second that," Madge adds softly. "I mean, if you could drag the District princess out in time," Madge says with a laugh, poking fun at herself. "Then I'm sure you can help out these folks here."

Gale snorts and rolls his eyes, but there's something close to a smile on his face. "That's true."

"Oh hush you!" Hazelle chastises her eldest son. To Madge, she says in a much sweeter tone. "Don't say things like that Madge, you're an amazing young woman."

Not wanting the script to be flipped to something as menial as her, Madge just nods and agrees.

"Well, here goes nothing, then," Gale decides, turning around to go to what could be approximated as the center of the clearing, where most of the refugees are located.

"Good luck," Hazelle tells him, standing up to cup his cheek and pull him down so she can press a kiss to his cheek.

"Can I come?" Posy asks excitedly, as if Gale is going to the sweets shop.

"Sure," Gale answers good-naturedly, holding out his hand for her to grasp. Madge notices that he's still favoring his left side. It'll probably take some time before his right side is healed.

"You coming?" Gale calls over his shoulder, pulling along a skipping Posy.

"Yes!" Madge answers quickly.

"Good luck," Hazelle says to her as well, as Madge passes her, and Madge gives her a grateful smile. She doesn't know about Gale, but Madge will definitely need it.

When Gale had shouted for a congregation, everyone had gathered quickly. Now, as every pair of eyes from the District are on them, Madge finds that she isn't anxious to be standing in front of everyone. All her life, she had burned with the guilt of knowing that she lived a life of austere privilege and ease, while her fellow District citizens starved from no fault of their own. But now, Madge has finally been granted the opportunity to do some _good_ in her pathetic life, and she'll be damned if she lets it slip from her fingers.

 _"Father,_ " Madge prays silently. _"I don't know if you can hear me, but I swear to you, that I'll give my life for these innocent people, just as you did. But I don't think it'll come to that. I have faith in Gale."_ Madge thinks back to how relieved Father had been when Gale had been standing in their entryway. _"Just like how you did._ "

Most people look relieved to see Gale stepping forward, as if they were anxiously waiting for this moment. This doesn't really come as a surprise, considering how nearly everyone knows of Gale's reputation as an adept woodsman.

But as Madge scans the crowd, she can't help but feel her heart break just a little more as she takes in just how _lost_ everyone looks, and how _desperate_ they are to have Gale ease their fears, if only be mere centimeters.

Gale doesn't falter under their gazes, though little Posy seems to have grown a shy bone, because she tucks herself under her brother's arm. Madge walks up until she's shoulder to shoulder with Gale. Well, in terms of alignment, in reality, the top of her head doesn't even clear his shoulders.

"Our home has been destroyed," Gale begins, his deep voice almost booming through the empty spaces between the trees. "The Capitol has declared war on us, and we won't go down with our tail between our legs."

"District 13 exists," at this, a few people gasp, and murmurs break out in the crowds. "And I can get us there."

"How do you know that 13 is still there?" someone shouts from the back. A few people nod and everyone looks at Gale expectantly. Truthfully, even Madge is curious to hear his logic; will he give them the same reasoning he had given her?

"Because Katniss and I once met two people in these very woods, traveling there," Gale answers steadily. At this, even Madge nearly gasps. Katniss had never shared that particular piece of information with her.

"But how will we get there?" a shaky voice asks. The speaker is a frail young woman, with two young children, the oldest no older than two, and no husband. A widow. Madge quickly averts her eyes, unable to stand the misery in the woman's hopeless eyes.

Gale seems to be affected by her sorrow as well, because he swallows before he answers.

"I know these woods. I know how to hunt, and I can teach others how to as well," Gale replies, his voice unwavering. "Madge here," Gale gestures at her, and Madge tries to smile reassuringly at the widow. "Knows a thing of two about gathering. Between the two of us, we can pass on our skills to enough people that if we come together, we can and _will_ survive."

She can feel the questioning gaze of the District upon her, and Madge can't really blame them: why would the Mayor's daughter know anything about the woods?

"According to the Capitol, all of us should be dead right now," Gale continues, making Madge look up at him. His gray eyes are ablaze. "Just staying alive now, is an act of revolt. We _are_ the revolution- the future of our children, and our children's children now rest solely on what we decide to do today. Do we branch off, isolated and alone like how the Capitol always wanted us to be, or do we come together, and let Snow that it doesn't matter how many bombs he drops, he can destroy a District, but he can't destroy our hope!"

Gale's impromptu speech actually gathers cheers, which grows as people consider his words; consider a future where death does not linger around every corner, a future in which people may for the first time in their lives actually _live_.

As Gale stands there, spine straight, Posy tucked into his side, and face tilted just slightly towards the sky, as if an angel is whispering these words of courage into his ear, Madge's heart swells with pride. Her own broken heart seems to be pieced together with his strong words, and in that moment Madge knows without doubt that Gale will be able to lead this group of people towards safety and security.

With just a few words, Gale has managed to spark a flame into everyone's ashen hearts.

Madge chances a glance back at the widow and see's that she is clutching her two children to her bosom tightly, but there is a reverent smile on her face.

"There's a lake due east from here," Gale interrupts the whoops and hollers. "It's about a quarter of a mile, give or take. The water is clean, and there should be game there, considering all the animals must've been scared off in these parts."

"Gather your things," Gale instructs everyone. "We'll leave in about 15 minutes."

Gale turns around, no doubt to return to his awaiting family. He nods to Madge as he passes her.

Madge smiles widely when he can no longer see her. She knows that Katniss and Peeta's stunt with the berries had spurred nationwide revolts, but to Madge, the revolution had just begun.

 _A/N:_

Good? Bad? Please let me know!


	4. Picky

Madge's pack is already, well, packed, so she decides to entreat into the denser parts of the woods for some privacy. She finds a small slope that she walks up, and rounds a large bush at its top.

Checking over her shoulders to ensure there's no one in the vicinity, Madge pulls out her water flask and greedily empties its contents, the dryness of her throat and heaviness of her tongue finally alleviated. With that done, she lifts her shirt so she can unbutton her corduroys.

This will probably be the worst part of living in the wilderness.

Holding her pants and pantie in her hands, Madge crouches awkwardly, and tries not to feel too self-conscious as her bladder happily empties itself. Once that's all well and done, Madge groans at the thought of what she must do next.

Balling her pants under one arm, Madge tears a leaf off the bush besides her, carefully checking it to make sure there isn't anything on it. Even then, she rubs it against her shirt meticulously. When she can't put off the inevitable any longer, Madge cringes and wipes herself with the leaf.

She ends up using two more leaves, to make sure she's as clean as she can be, given the circumstances, before she gets up and redresses. Too late, Madge realizes that she hadn't left any water for her to rinse her hands with.

 _"It's ok Madge,_ " she consoles herself, as she walks back to the clearing. _"Remember reading from Father's biology book, how fresh urine actually doesn't have any bacteria, only from exposure over time does the bacteria begin to accumulate?"_

She isn't all that consoled when rejoins the District, but there isn't anything she can do about it, so she pushes it out of her mind.

It seems that most people are ready, and a caravan begins to loosely form, with the Hawthorne's and the Everdeen's at its head. From her spot amongst the crowd, Madge can see Hazelle looking around, most probably for her. Madge ducks her head and lets herself blend in with her surroundings: Hazelle and the kids are angels, but Madge thinks she's pushed her Gale interaction quota enough as it is.

The survivors begin their journey to the lake, and Madge tries not to feel lonely as she trudges on with strangers, trying to distract herself with the nurturing beauty of the woods.

She's flanked by two Seam families, who are content with ignoring her, which she's actually fine with too. After all, what is there to talk about? The weather? Madge prefers the silence, in which she can contemplate what can be labeled as lesson plans for her soon to be gathering pupils.

She's going through her mental catalogue of edible berries, when someone taps her shoulder. A boy and a girl, who seem near her age have shouldered their way into the small circle Madge takes up between the two Seam families.

The boy, who had tapped Madge's shoulder, is Seam and looks familiar, but Madge can't quite place where she's seen that boyish grin before.

"Thom Bryne," the boy introduces himself, holding out a dark hand for Madge to shake. The boy is handsome, but he has a mole beneath the corner of his left eye that really makes him look endearing. "District hero."

The girl beside him snorts but doesn't say anything, just continues walking besides him. She has the shiniest hair Madge has ever seen, hanging down her shoulders straight as a pin, while an expression of extreme boredom is plastered on her pretty face.

"Madge Undersee," Madge tells him, even though he already knows who she is, as she hesitantly places her hand in his. His handshake is firm and warm, and let's go of her hand after two friendly pumps. "I'm afraid I don't know about the hero part."

"Ah, well," here, his grin grows wider, if that's even possible, and pulls from his pocket a tool that looks related to a household scissor, but it has rubber handles and its rounded blades look much sharper than what Madge had used to cut paper with. "I had run into the mines and came up with this Bypass Pruner in my pocket, which I used to cut the hole in the fence you came through.

"Oh!" Madge gaps, her eyes growing wide. In her terror of getting out of the District as fast as possible, she hadn't even realized that hole in the fence was much larger than what it originally was. "That _is_ heroic!"

"What Mr. Hero here is failing to mention," the bored girl speaks up for the first time. "Is that he had run into the mines yesterday _morning_ because he had slept in, and he had the pruner in his pocket because he had forgotten to put it back."

"Bristel, are you contractually obligated to shit on my happiness?" Thom grumbles, shoving Bristel away from him. Bristel retaliates immediately by elbowing him between the ribs.

As Thom hisses in pain, Bristel turns her silver eyes towards Madge, the boredom replaced by an intense curiosity.

"So, why'd Gale go back for you?" Brisel asks Madge bluntly. Thom straightens up immediately and nods, looking just as curious as her. The mention of Gale is what opens up her few memories of Thom: he's Gale's friend, she's seen him with Gale around the District a few times.

"Yeah, it was really unexpected," Thom comments, as they wait for her response.

What should she tell them? The truth? Then they'll want to know why she gave him the morphling in the first place, and Madge is _not_ opening that Pandora's box.

"He owed me," Madge answers vaguely, making sure to meet both Thom and Bristel's gazes so they don't conclude that she's lying. She isn't after all, not really. She may not have ever wanted anything in exchange for that morphling, but she knows the moment Gale had learned about it, he couldn't have let her die without getting even.

"Owe you what?" Thom asks obliviously, while Bristel next to him rolls her eyes.

"None of your damn business," Bristel tells him, a hint of warning in her tone.

Thom must have picked up on this, because he quickly changes the subject.

"So, Madge, how do you know about gathering?" Thom asks. "Katniss?"

"Katniss," Madge confirms, suddenly filled with longing for her best friend. Those days spent in the woods with her friend now seem like a dream, so peaceful and perfect they had been. She'd give anything to have those moments with Katniss back.

"Katniss," Thom repeats, this time sadly. Even bored Bristel looks down in remorse. "It's a shame what happened to her. She deserved better."

"She did," Madge agrees, her voice small.

Thankfully, neither Thom nor Bristel bring up Katniss or Gale up again, which Madge is grateful for. Because when they aren't triggering her with painful memories, they're actually pleasant company.

"So how do you know each other?" Madge asks, curious to know. She has a hunch that they're siblings, but Madge doesn't voice that in case they're dating, in which saying they're related would just be offensive.

Bristel and Thom exchange a look and Madge wonders if she's offended them already, crossing a line she wasn't supposed to.

"Well, to keep things simple," Thom tells her conspiratorially. "We just tell everyone we're cousins. The truth is, I'm her Uncle."

"And," Bristel adds amusedly. "I'm older than him."

Madge frowns as she tries to make sense of this. "How did that work out?"

"My Mom, Thom's older sister," Bristel explains to her. "Got married immediately upon graduating. She was barely 19 when she had me. My Grandma, who had had my Mom at the same age, was still not that old when she got pregnant with Thom here. Thom was born when I was about one year's old."

"Wow," is all Madge can say.

"Wow indeed," Thom agrees with a laugh. "Do you see now why we go with the whole cousin thing? Less weird."

"It's not weird," Madge insists, though she does wonder why the fake cousin trope is so popular in 12. "You two have a unique bond, you should treasure it."

"You asking me to treasure _this_?" Bristel points to Thom with her thumb, the latter who is trying to remove a leaf from his hair, and failing when he realizes the leaf has sap on it. Madge has to stifle a giggle.

The family in front of them has slowed down, and Madge realizes that they've already reached the lake, and the view of it takes her breath away.

The water is blue and glimmering under the now visible sun. The trees surround it like a halo, with the mountains in the backdrop framing it as if it's an oil painting. With the weather warming up, but still cooler, it's the perfect setting.

Thom blows a low whistle. "Now that's a beauty."

Madge nods and turns to her new...friends? Acquaintances? She isn't sure of their relationship, but she's enjoyed their company nevertheless.

"It was really nice talking to you both," Madge tells them honestly. "But I should probably get up there and help out Gale."

"I'm glad Gale saved you!" Thom says warmly. "You're nice! Nicer than Bristel for sure."

"Oh, shut up you dunce," Bristel snaps, but with no malice. "We'll be around if you need anything, Madge."

So, talking to her wasn't a one-time thing. She tries not to grin like a fool at the prospect of making _two_ whole new friends as she makes her way over to Gale.

"Done socializing?" Gale sneers as soon as she's close enough. Madge's good mood instantly dissipates.

"No," Madge answers, her face neutral but voice haughty. "I wasn't, but there'll be more time for that later."

This wasn't the response he was expecting, which Madge can see as his eyes narrow and brow furrows, but doesn't say anything further on the topic. Is he upset that she's fraternizing with his friend group? Madge wonders if she's ever unknowingly spat in his porridge bowl, because there's no way he can hate her this much with no real basis.

"Before we branch off into groups for hunting and gathering," Gale says loudly, pulling away everyone's attention from the lake. "Anyone with skills they think can be useful for survival, or brought with them anything that can help, like pots or pans, please step forward."

A handful of men know how to build fires. They're delegated to finding firewood. One man, for whatever reason, had brought with him a shovel, and with such an enthusiasm it was unnerving, volunteers to dig holes for "folks to crap in!".

Gale nods slowly, looking momentarily disturbed as the man quickly scurries into the woods.

"Make separate areas for men and women!" Gale calls after 'holey' man, as Madge has nicknamed him in her mind. 'Holey' man raises a hand in acknowledgment.

The District seamstress reveals that she brought her sewing things with her, and offers to try and put together some makeshift tarps. A few women volunteer to help her with this.

"Go around and ask if anyone has some fabric to spare," Gale instructs the seamstress, who nods attentively. "And remember that its function should serve to protect us from mainly rain and insects."

As Madge watches Gale slowly organize the camp, she can't help but feel her annoyance towards him slip away and be replaced with admiration, and Madge remembers, but for all of that- for all his cutting words and harsh glares, Madge would gladly throw her arms around his neck and drown in his kisses.

But Gale isn't going to drown her in his kisses, and Madge has too much self-respect to mope around over a boy. Madge promises herself then and there that her days of pining after Gale Hawthorne are over: she and Gale are now equals, in the eyes of both themselves, and everyone else, and she isn't going to endanger everyone because she's over the moon for a guy who frankly views her akin to coal dust.

"Alright!" Gale calls loudly. "Who will my hunters be?"

A few men and boys step forward. Rory looks the most excited to be there. No women. Madge can't help but feel offended on Katniss's behalf, but then humbles herself when she remembers she couldn't hunt herself.

"Hey, buddy!" Thom greets cheerfully, slapping Gale playfully on the shoulder. "I'm in the mood for some mountain lion tonight!"

"Stop that," Gale scowls at him, but Thom ignores him, slinging his arm over Gale's shoulders. Gale violently shrugs him off, and Madge see's Rory snickering to the side. The men watching look apprehensive, as if they're just realizing that their fates lay in the hands of a man who's barely 19.

"And gatherers!" Madge doesn't particularly like calling attention towards herself, but once it's on her, she knows how to deal with it. One of the 'perks' of having been the Mayor's daughter, she supposes. Besides, it's best to distract everyone from the fact that Gale is currently acting like a petulant child.

Her group is mostly women, but there are a few young teenage boys sprinkled in as well, most of them accompanying their moms and sisters. To her surprise, Prim joins the group. Bristel winks at her from the back.

"Alright," Gale nods, before he makes his way into the woods, his men following him.

Madge stops herself from rolling her eyes- so maybe Gale _isn't_ the perfect leader she had envisioned him as.

"Don't worry," Madge assured her gatherers. "I'll give a little longer introduction than 'alright'."

This actually gathers a few laughs, and Madge feels more confident in her role as a teacher.

"I think the easiest way is to make loops around the lake, expanding in radius each time we complete one. Every time we come across something we can eat, I'll show it to you all, and we'll leave behind a few people to gather them. Sound good?"

Everyone nods and Madge takes a deep breath. Now or never. "Let's head out then."

By the time it's just her and Bristel, about a mile away from the lake, they've come across mushrooms, pinecone seeds, wild onions, acorns, bull thistle's, cattails, chickweeds, chives, clovers, pine needles, peppergrasses, curly docks, dandelions, field mustard and garlic mustards.

Madge had been hesitant going on without Prim: she had a soft spot for the girl, after all, but she and a girl who Madge assumed was a friend of hers had seemed almost happy to gather dandelions in the pretty field they had come across, so Madge let them be. Most of the boys that had come with her were climbing up the trees, scavenging for acorns while their mother's gathered on the ground below. There had been a lot of laughing and hollering, and Madge was glad the boys were able to make a game out of it, it keeps the morale high.

"You're good at this," Bristel comments offhandedly, as if she's discussing the weather. "Teaching."

Madge shrugs. "Not really, I'm just passing on what I know."

"Last time I checked, that's kinda what teaching is," Bristel deadpans, but her lips are twitching upwards.

"Ok, go ahead and laugh," Madge says. "That was pretty dumb what I just said."

So Bristel laughs, and Madge does too. Madge revels in how different this friendship is from her's and Katniss's yet how similar. While Katniss was silent because she was constantly on guard against the rest of the world, Bristel keeps quiet until she finds something that doesn't bore her. Madge is quiet too, but that's because you learn much more by listening than by speaking. Madge is happy to learn that she's interesting enough to entertain perpetually bored Bristel.

She's about to tell Bristel this, when she stops in her tracks.

"What is it?" Bristel asks apprehensively.

Madge just points.

It isn't a very tall tree, but it has beautiful pink leaves, which blow tantalizingly in the warm breeze. While its beauty is what caught Madge's eyes, that isn't what kept them there. Because hanging from its branches is something Madge only dares to hope.

 _Apples._

Besides her, Bristel gasps, and Madge knows she's seen them too. Wordlessly, they both run towards the tree.

Bristel is able to jump up and grab hold of a branch. Swinging her legs up, she hoists herself until she's hanging upside down off the branch on all fours. With one hand, she reaches out and pulls an apple off its stem, tossing it down into Madge's awaiting hands.

"I think these are regular apples," Madge says as she closely inspects the red fruit. "Doesn't look too different than the one at the grocer's."

"Hmm...smells like 'em too," Bristel observes, and Madge agrees. Still, this was never cleared by Katniss to her, and Madge isn't sure if they can take the risk. Bristel pulls herself up until she's sitting right side up on the branch. She pulls another apple down and tosses it in between her hands.

"This apple is a crabapple," Bristel says suddenly, taking Madge by surprise.

"How do you know that?" Madge asks, frowning up at her friend.

"Well, I…" Bristel trails off, looking over to the side uncertainly. "I know this sounds crazy, but ever since I was a kid, once I see something, I never forget it. A teacher once said it's photographic memory or something."

That explains the constant boredom. Bristel is a genius that bores too quickly with things that takes everyone else months to remember.

"That's amazing!" Madge compliments genuinely. "No, really Bristel, I'm so glad you told me this, you'll be able to help me remind everyone what we can or cannot gather!"

Bristel's smile is hesitant. "You don't think I'm making it up?"

"Why would I?" Madge asks incredulously.

Bristel doesn't answer, just throws the apple in her hand towards Madge. They both quickly learn that the tree must be past its peak season, because there aren't many apples, only a dozen or so.

Still, they pack the apple's with them and head back into camp in good spirits. They don't pass anyone else on their way back, so Madge assumes that the rest have already headed back.

Her assumption is correct, and what's more is that Gale's group is back as well, and with them, a dead deer. The District, which had seemed so somber just this morning is already so much more alive, with colorful tents sprung up and firewood scattered around awaiting nightfall. Pots have been filled with water, and there are even a few children playing hide and seek.

"Huh," Bristel says besides her, as they both take in the bustling camp. "Seems almost too easy, no?"

 _A/N:_

DUN DUN DUN...foreshadowing, lots of it.


	5. Larceny

In all her worrying over whether or not there would be enough food for everyone, Madge had been able to more or less ignore her persistent headache. But now, with the consolation that everyone will be able to sleep tonight with at least the bare minimum of required nutrition in their stomachs, the pain makes her vision spotty and her breathing shallow.

With a cordial nod to Bristel, who walks over to her family, Madge slowly makes her way over to the lake's edge, where she tiredly folds herself onto her knees. They're far enough away from the district that the smoke no longer looms over them, and the August temperature creeps back up. She hisses in relief at the feel of the cool water on her hot skin, cupping her hands to bring water up to her face.

One of the first lessons Katniss had taught her is that clean water in the forest didn't equal safe water. Slowly, she had Madge build resistance to the natural bacteria and other microbes in the water by taking small sips, drinking more and more over the course of a week. In the beginning, her stomach had cramped terribly, and she had been mortified when she found herself having to need to use the toilet right there in the woods. Katniss had just smiled (well, on other people, it would be a neutral face, which in Katniss terms, is a smile) and explained that her stomach would grow upset a few times in the beginning, but would eventually build resistance and be able to digest the water with ease.

So Madge isn't worried about any inconvenient bowel movements as she greedily drinks the crisp water. She does empathize with the rest of the District, however. In the grand scheme of things, they're all lucky, really, to have 'holey' man with them.

Once her thirst is satiated, she begins the arduous process of trying to clean herself while still wearing dirty clothes. She has one more outfit in her pack, but she's waiting until her current one is totally tarnished before switching.

Once she's convinced she no longer smells like rotting eggs, Madge bows her head over the water, and slowly pours water from her hands onto her scalp. The water sinks into her curly blonde tendrils, slowly making their way down until they reach her forehead, where it drips back into the lake. Madge repeats the motion a few more times, gently massaging the dirt out of her hair, though without shampoo, she isn't sure how successful she'll be. While her fingers gently rubbing circles into her scalp does feel nice, it doesn't really lessen her headache, and Madge can't help but worry. She may not be a doctor, but even Madge knows an untreated concussion can have...unpleasant side effects.

"Good haul?" a gruff voice from besides her asks, pulling Madge from her health speculations.

"I'd say so," Madge answers, trying up her wet hair into a bun with a hair tie around her wrist. She looks up to see Gale staring at the lake, something that looks like a tangle of rope in his hands. "Bristel and I found a few apples. I was about to wash them."

Gale snaps his gaze to her, silver eyes wide in surprise.

" Apples ?" Gale splutters. "You found apples ?!"

"Um, yes?" Madge answers hesitantly, her thoughts flying to ridiculous conclusions. Were the apple's poisonous or something?

"Unbelievable…" Gale shakes his head. "My Dad promised me he'd take me to the Apple Tree when it was in bloom, but died before he got the chance to. I've been looking for it all these years, and you found it in a day ."

"I could take you to it, if you want," Madge offers to him. Day before yesterday, she would have only been able to sympathize with Gale's loss. Now, she could sadly empathize.

Gale isn't able to answer, because two young boys run up to him, their grubby hands filled with frantic earthworms.

"Here're your worms mister!" one of the boys informs Gale, showing off his missing front teeth with his wide smile.

The other boy, shyer, just thrusts his hands forward, but looks pleased with himself.

"Worms?" Madge asks, trying to keep the disgust out of her voice. Insects and her do not mix.

"Yes princess, worms ," Gale answers. "They're the perfect bait for fish."

Of course. Madge feels dumb for asking, and pulls the apples out of her pack before Gale snaps at her for being too sheltered or something. It's not her fault Katniss didn't teach her fishing.

As she washes the apples, Rory and Thom make their way over. The former looking absolutely miserable, and the latter with his trademark lopsided grin.

"I need you two to tie these worms all over the net," Gale instructs them as soon as they're within earshot, handing Thom the net. "Make sure not to tie them too tightly, or they'll tear." Madge has to physically suppress herself from gagging.

Thom must have noticed her discomfort because he laughs, and nudges her calf with his boot. "You look awfully excited Madge, you sure you don't wanna trade jobs?"

"Stop acting like an idiot!" Gale suddenly shouts, making Madge drop an apple into the water in shock. "Hell's teeth, we're trying to survive out here, not flirt with the first girl you see!"

"Wha?" Thom scrunches up his face in confusion. "I'm pretty sure the first girl I saw was my Mam."

"Thom is not flirting with me," Madge insists, angry that Gale would make such a baseless assumption, and not even bother to clarify if it's correct or not. "So mind your own business, Hawthorne."

Gale glares at her, but Thom cuts him off before he can speak.

"Actually, the first girl I saw might've been the midwife," Thom muses. "And I'm like, 90% sure I haven't flirted with her. Yet. Who knows what the future holds?"

"Oh would you all shut up?!" Rory cries, flinging the worms he was handed down. The worms do a happy dance at their sudden freedom from captivity. "Gale, I deserved that bow and arrow, you know I did!"

Gale runs a tired hand down his face and Madge's fallen apple has finally floated back up to the lake's surface.

"Rory, how many times do I have to say this, the only reason why Frank got the bow and not you is because he had better aim," Gale explains exasperatedly. "So stop acting like such a baby!"

"Whatever," Rory responds sullenly, scooping back the poor worms once more. "Let's just get these damn worms in the water."

"Attitude," Gale growls, but Rory ignores him

"Hey, wait up!" Thom calls after the quickly retreating Rory, gathering the large net into his arms so he doesn't trip over it as he runs after him.

Gale makes his way to leave too, but Madge isn't done with him.

"Where do you get off?" Madge demands. She's still on her knees, and their already large height difference is even further exaggerated, but Madge pays that no mind. "Implying that Thom was flirting with me of all things?"

"Because he was- is !" Gale quickly corrects himself, looking angry all over again. "And this isn't the time for that crap!"

The apple has been floating away from her all this time, so Madge has to stretch her arm out to grab it. She adds with the rest of the washed ones, and stands up.

"I'll be the one that decides what I do with my time, thank you very much," Madge coolly informs him. "But rest assured, that the welfare of this group is my only priority."

Gale looks caught between wanting to shout more and actually looking bashful. He decides to go with neither, and his face becomes indifferent.

"As if I care what you do, and with who," Gale scoffs. "As long as it doesn't affect your gathering, I couldn't give a damn."

"While we're on the topic of my schedule, I just realized I don't really have the time to take you to that Apple Tree," Madge says in obvious false sympathy. "So sorry about that."

She quickly marches past him. Thom and Rory are trying the worms to the line. Rooba, the District butcher, is preparing the deer, and a couple of Madge's women are spreading out everything they've gathered on a clean tarp. Madge makes her way to them and adds the apples alongside the other food.

"It isn't much," one of them tells her. Madge suddenly remembers where she had seen the middle-aged woman before: she was the grocer's wife, Thalia Ovansteen. "But if we make a couple pots of stew, even if a few people don't get everything in their bowl, they'll still get the flavor and nutrients."

Madge nods in agreement. "You're probably right, any idea if there are any volunteers for making said stews?

Thalia points to a cluster of women that are standing by their pots, each doing various things. They must have evacuated the District with their things in the pots, which in hindsight was an excellent idea. "They're waiting for Rooba to finish up with the deer and for us to divide up everything."

Madge is about to offer her help when the ground lurched almost violently beneath her feet. She nearly falls over when a pair of small hands wrap themselves gently around her arm.

Once her dizzy spell passes, she looks down to see the concerned face of Primrose Everdeen.

"You've exerted yourself," Prim says both firmly and kindly. "You need to rest, you're still concussed."

"Don't you worry, dear," Thalia assures her. The other women beside her nod empathetically. "We got everything under control."

"Alright," Madge says weakly, allowing herself to be lead under a shady tree by Prim.

"Here," Prim says once they're seated, pulling out a plant that looks like a daisy from her bag. "It's a feverfew, it's been used for centuries to treat headaches. I'm going to grind it up and mix it in some water for you to drink, ok?"

Madge leans herself slowly against the tree, her eyes closing heavily. She makes a small hum of agreement and hears Prim get up.

She hadn't even realized she had fallen asleep until Prim is back and shaking her shoulder.

"Drink this," Prim says gently, putting her cup to Madge's lips. "You'll feel better, promise."

It tastes disgusting, but Madge isn't really in a position to be picky, so she downs the concoction without complaint, though she does gag a little once she's finished.

"I know, it tastes terrible," Prim giggles. "But it really will help."

"I should have known that dandelions don't make you so happy," Madge chuckles. "You were looking for the plants you and your Mom use in your treatments, weren't you?"

"Guilty," Prim admits sheepishly.

"No worries," Madge assures her. "I'm the dolt for not even thinking of asking you if you could do that."

"Don't say that!" Prim gasps. "You're not a dolt, you did great today, really!"

Madge just smiles at the sweet girl as she takes in her appearance. She looks a bit ragged, her wheat blonde hair pulled back in a messy braid, and glassy blue eyes wide in reassurance. She doesn't look anything like Katniss, and yet there's something about the young girl in front of Madge, that is just so Everdeen , that even if Madge can't place it, she knows without doubt that this frail little girl is Katniss's sister.

"Are you thinking about Katniss?" Prim asks her softly, her pretty face sinking back into the sadness Madge had seen on it earlier.

"How did you know?" Madge asks, wondering if she's really that easy to read.

Prim just shrugs. "I can't stop thinking about her."

Madge purses her lips and thinks for a moment, before holding out her arms. If Prim doesn't want to take comfort in Madge's embrace, then she would never force her to, but if she does, then Madge is more than happy to comply.

Prim hesitates for a moment, before leaning over and letting Madge wrap her arms over her small frame. She's stiff for a few moments, before her muscles tighten even further and then relax, small whimpers escape the back of her throat.

"Shh," Madge consoles the now crying Prim, trying hard herself not to cry, as her mind replays her favorite memories of her friend. She and Katniss in the lunchroom, looking over Madge's flashcards together. She and Katniss walking to class together, silent, but meeting gazes in equal exasperation as a rowdy boy cuts in front of them suddenly. Teaching her the piano. Playing the piano for her. Letting her doze off on her shoulder as they sat next to the bubbling brook. "Katniss loved you so much. She would be happy that you have the chance of having a bright life in front of you now."

This makes Prim cry more, but her arms come up to grip Madge tightly, so Madge continues.

"You could be a Doctor. Get married, and have kids that wouldn't have to worry about being reaped," Madge lists all the possibilities that are now open to Prim that were once impossible. "I know it hurts. It hurts so bad. It makes my chest hurt. But that's what they want, right? For us to live on."

She isn't sure if she's speaking to Prim or herself anymore, and she doesn't really care. She pulls Prim closer to her, and finds that the close contact comforts her more than the gross feverfew plant.

"You're right," comes Prim's muffled response from between them. "K-Katniss would be happy."

After a few minutes, Prim stops crying, and slowly untangles herself from Madge's hold. Madge runs a loving hand down her hair.

Someone clears their throat, and Madge looks up to find Mrs. Everdeen staring at her with an unreadable expression on her pale face.

"Thank you for the tea," Madge tells Prim quickly. Mrs. Everdeen's words from the night of the bombing still hang uncomfortably between them, and Madge doesn't want to be in the presence of that hollow woman any longer than she needs to be. "I have some...things I need to do."

Prim looks confused at her hasty departure but nods. "Ok, see you later?

"Of course," Madge smiles, but quickly shoulders her pack. She nods politely at Mrs. Everdeen, whose eyes follow her every move, and quickly leaves the shady tree.

"Oh, wait!" Prim calls after her, pulling out a small tin from her bag. "This is a salve I made for Gale's ribs, just rub it in before he goes to sleep tonight."

"Sure," Madge says, taking the tin hastily, not even realizing what Prim just asked her to do.

She decides to take a walk, since she doesn't actually have anything to do. The women have begun cooking, and there are a couple of men that are gutting the fish Thom and Rory caught under Gale's supervision.

Ugh. The sight of Gale annoys her all over again. He really has no concept of subtlety. Or emotional maturity.

Madge sighs in frustration. Gale is emotionally mature, he just hates her. She isn't sure what's worse.

"Hi Sissy!" Posy suddenly greets her, pulling Madge out of her gloomy thoughts. Hazelle is next to the girl, smiling, but also looking concerned.

"We missed you this morning," Hazelle says, her gaze almost accusatory. Madge looks at her shoes uncomfortably. "I tried to look for you, but it's like you disappeared."

"Must have been in the back," Madge fibs guiltily. "Lot's of people," she adds lamely.

"Of course," Hazelle says in a voice that let's Madge know that she isn't buying it. "Anywho, I managed to snag a rather nice tarp."

"Oh," Madge hadn't even thought of getting herself a tarp. A quick scan of the camp lets her know there aren't any extra ones for her to take. Great.

"What's with that look?" Hazelle asks with a raised brow. "You'll be sleeping with us, of course."

"Well, that's, I-" Madge stammers. Does this woman really not realize how much her son detests Madge?

"Look at you!" Hazelle cries. "Running around with a concussion! Go on and lie down, I'll bring you some food as soon it's ready."

"Posy, take Madge over to our spot," Hazelle instructs the little girl.

"Ok!" Posy takes Madge's hand and begins to lead her away.

"What'a concussion, Sissy?" Posy asks as she skips alongside Madge, pigtails bouncing with each step.

"I don't think you should call me Sissy," Madge sighs. "You can call me Madge."

Posy pouts. "Katniss was too scary to call Sissy, and Prim is fun to say. And I can't call Vick sissy, even though he acts like one."

The large, pleading eyes, paired with the pouty lips are too much for Madge, so she holds up her free hand in defeat. "Ok, ok! You can call me Sissy."

"Yay!" Posy cheers. Madge can't help but smile at this. This girl is too cute for her own good, really.

"Viiick," Posy calls out to her older brother, who is trying with great difficulty to make a house out of cards. Madge tries to envision the young boy deciding to bring a pack of cards with him when he's told his District is about to be bombed. Oh, to be a child again.

"Whaaat," Vick replies in the same voice as Posy, not looking up from his cards.

"I brought Sissy!"

At this, Vick looks up quickly and smiles. Madge hadn't noticed in the dark last night, but he's missing a bottom tooth.

"Oh, hi Madge!" Vick greets her. "Wanna play cards? Posy keeps making up own rules."

"Do not!" Posy stomps her foot and folds her arms across her chest angrily.

"Sure," Madge answers, even though she wants nothing more than to take a nap. "But Posy has to play too."

Vick doesn't look happy at this but doesn't argue. Posy does make up her own rules, and watching Vick fume and argue with her is actually more entertaining than the actual game. Madge begins to make up her own rules as well, which Vick was initially deeply offended over, before the boy had an epiphany and began making up his own rules.

By the time Hazelle and Rory return, their card game is mostly just the three of them giggling madly as they try to make sense of the mess that their game has turned into.

"Here you go," Hazelle gives Madge and Posy a bowl each of stew, while taking one from Rory. Rory gives the other bowl to Vick before returning to the suddenly formed line to get a bowl for himself.

Madge got deer stew, and finds with delight a piece of an apple floating in the brown water. There aren't any utensils, so she has to put the bowl to her mouth and awkwardly bite the meat. The four of them are eating away happily when Rory, this time accompanied by Gale, joins them.

"Why are you here?" Gale snaps at her as he takes a seat.

"Because it isn't safe for a young woman to be alone, especially once it's dark," Hazelle says sternly, her silver eyes flashing.

"Then go over to Thom, he's your boyfriend after all," Gale grouses impatiently. "You're not my headache."

Hazelle's mouth falls open. Rory rolls his eyes, and Vick looks up from his bowl in confusion. Posy is too busy eating to pay any attention to the conversation.

"Thom is not my boyfriend!" Madge hisses in mortification.

"Well you certainly act like he is!" Gale shouts.

"Enough!" Hazelle interjects loudly. "Gale, what on Earth is wrong with you? If the girl says he isn't her boyfriend, he isn't! Now shut your yap, respect Madge, and drink that stew before I whoop you!"

"Gale, how can Madge have a boyfriend?" Vick asks his brother seriously. "Wouldn't the cooties have killed her?"

"Oh she has them alright," Rory tells him darkly. "And I made her spit in your bowl before giving it to you!"

"What?" Vick cries, though he still holds on to his bowl. "Madge, did you spit in my bowl?!"

"No Vick," Madge answers tiredly. "I did not spit in your bowl." Vick doesn't look too convinced, but continues eating nevertheless.

The rest of the meal continues without any accusations or banter, which Madge is thankful for. The blend Prim had given her along with the stew had certainly helped Madge, but she was exhausted and her head still hurt.

Hazelle laid out the tarp and Madge finds herself on the left end, next to Hazelle. Posy lies next to her Mom, then Vick, and then Rory, ending with Gale on the opposite end of the tarp, his bow and quiver placed possessively by his feet.

The ground is uncomfortable beneath her back, the muggy air feels like it's suffocating her, and she's terribly paranoid that insects will crawl all over her any moment. But what keeps sleep tethered from her is the dark.

Eyes open or closed, everything is dark, and it fills Madge with red hot panic. It had been dark when the bombs had fell. Her parents had been in the dark when they died, with the fires that ate them alive the only light present. She can't see where she must go in the dark, she can't see who she must be.

She sits up, hiding her face in her hands, as she focuses on not hyperventilating. The last thing she needs are the Hawthorne's waking up to find her in the middle of a psychotic episode.

"Undersee."

Madge lifts her face to see Gale also sitting up. The moon is behind her, so his face is illuminated in the silver light. He's frowning.

"What is it," he asks in a tone that makes it sound like a statement instead of a question.

Madge sighs. Sending Gale down as her therapist? Cruel, universe. Cruel.

"Nothing," Madge murmurs. "Just a headache."

Gale is about to say something when she suddenly remembers.

"Oh!" Madge gasps. "I was supposed to give this to you."

She pulls Prim's tin from her pack and gets up to walk it over to Gale.

"Here," she says, handing the tin to a confused Gale. "Prim made a salve for your ribs." "Ah," Gale nods. "Right."

He pulls his shirt over his head and unscrews the tin. Madge suddenly feels awkward just standing there, but she isn't ready to be left alone with her thoughts again.

"Um, actually, I have to apply it," Madge stops him quickly. Technically that is what Prim said, besides, she is the reason why he got hurt, this is the least she can do.

"I don't think so," Gale says cooly, dipping his fingers in the salve. He hisses as his fingers come in contact with his discolored skin.

"You'll heal faster if you relax and let someone rub it in," Madge explains. "You have to twist your torso to reach which is putting a strain on the muscles."

Gale frowns as he considers her logic.

" Fine ," he agrees snappishly. "Just don't do a shit job."

"Of course," Madge says agreeably as she rolls her eyes. She dips her fingers into the salve and finds it pleasantly cool. Gale's settled down and stares resolutely at the sky. Right, she hadn't really considered how this might be awkward.

" It's all medical ," Madge tells herself. " No big deal. "

And for a while, it is. Gale grimaces and winces as she gently rubs in the salve, but as she moves to the less tender areas, he relaxes beneath her fingers, and his eyes begin to droop. Under normal circumstances, Madge would have grown flustered at not only looking at, but actually touching the warm, smooth skin of Gale's torso, which is a testament to the fact that the male physique can be a very beautiful thing, but the ugly bruise taunts her, and it leaves a bitter taste in her mouth, so she moves her gaze to his face. Under the moonlight his peaceful features are beautiful, from his straight nose to his strong jaw. His eyelashes brush his high cheekbones, and his full lips are just barely parted. His thick eyebrows, which are normally furrowed, are relaxed, and rest on his perfectly convex forehead. Gale may have many flaws, but none whatsoever are tied to his looks.

"Enjoying the view?" Gale asks suddenly, though his eyes remain closed. Madge curses herself, she should have known his super hunter instincts would have alerted him that she was staring.

"More like envying it," Madge jokes. "Your face is almost perfectly symmetrical, did you know that?"

"If you're asking do I know I'm breathtakingly handsome, the answer is yes," Gale smirks, cracking open an eye to look at her.

Madge rolls her eyes. Rory must be rubbing off on her.

"Alright 'handsome', I'm done," Madge tells him, twisting the lid back on. "I'll leave this with you."

Gale grunts and closes his eye again. Madge is about to get up before she realizes too late, they have no plans for breakfast.

"Gale," Madge whispers, not wanting Hazelle who is no doubt eavesdropping to overhear and worry. "What are we going to do for breakfast?"

"Relax Princess, you won't starve" Gale taunts. "We left enough stew so that everyone can get half a bowl tomorrow."

"You need to stop doing that," Madge tells him sternly. "You need to stop painting me as a selfish, useless, 'princess' that doesn't give a damn about anyone else. I don't care if you hate me, but you can't treat me like this."

Madge gets up without giving him an opportunity to respond, and lies stiffly back down in her spot. Her eyes well with tears as she remembers how lonely she was, the untouchable Mayor's daughter, who no one dared to approach. At least back then she still had two parents who loved her immeasurably. Now she was totally alone in the world, and the world didn't seem to like her too much.

Madge jumps at the feel of a hand on her shoulder, and looks over to see Hazelle staring at her, her silver eyes concerned.

Hazelle doesn't say anything as she runs her hand down Madge's arm until she reaches her hand, which she clasps tightly. Hazelle's hand is tough and lined with callouses, but it's the nicest thing Madge has felt all day, right after Prim's hug. She wonders if Hazelle has some maternal intuition that told her how Madge is feeling.

Regardless, with her hand held tightly in Hazelle's, the staggering fear that the darkness cloaked her in slowly lightens. She's able to focus on other things, like the rock digging into her back, the hum of crickets in the air, and how there are so many stars in the sky it feels like every time she blinks, a new one is added.

The lull Prim's remedy had provided has worn off, and Madge closes her eyes as her head pulses in pain. Just as she's sure she won't be able to sleep in such pain, her mind is suddenly drowsy, and it's hard to form a single coherent thought.

Madge doesn't even time to question what's going on before she's asleep.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck !"

Madge's eyes flutter open to a pink dawn sky. The beautiful sunrise is a sharp contrast to the fuming Gale in front of her, who paces frantically as he savagely kicks a stick out of his way.

Madge sits up next to Hazelle, who's already up, and watching her son with concerned eyes.

"What's wrong?" Madge asks quietly, dread pooling in her stomach.

"The pots are empty."

Madge gasps at this implication. She sweeps her gaze across the still sleeping camp.

There is a thief amongst them. One that doesn't care if they damn the entire District to starvation.

 _A/N:_

Sorry about the huge delay in updating. Kinda had a crisis with my writing where I hated every word and wanted to delete everything, lol.


	6. The Hunt

With a shared look, both Gale and Madge are able to agree silently that any further discussion would have to be done somewhere more private. The kids are still asleep, but Gale looks as if he may blow up any moment.

"We'll be back," Gale lets Hazelle know as he ducks in between the trees, Madge right behind him, though not before Hazelle shots her a half quizzical, half amused look. How odd.

They don't speak as they walk. Madge is still blinking sleep out of her eyes, finding it harder than usual to wake herself up. Must be a side effect of the concussion, which, while vastly healed, still hurts.

Gale leads her to a meadow, and Madge's eyes widen at the peaceful beauty of it. The grass looks vibrant and inviting, with the entire color spectrum sown into the soft ground in the form of springy wildflowers that flutter in the sweet morning air. The vibrant chromatic dawn almost pouring its color and warmth into the meadow below it.

"Oh," is all Madge can say as she takes in the scene before her. If the Lake had looked like an oil painting, then the meadow was a poem that had had life breathed into it, every blade of grass a different sonnet, every flower another stanza of romance.

"Yeah," Gale agrees quietly. Madge looks up to see that the anger that had been boiling within him had simmered down, and all that was left was exhaustion. He steps into the meadow, flowers kissing his ankles as he walks, and sinks deeply into the plush grass. Madge seats herself next to him and burrows her hands into the dewy, sweet-smelling ground.

"We'll catch the thief," Madge tells him encouragingly, touching his arm with her now damp hand. His muscles tense beneath her palm, and she quickly removes her hand.

"And then what?" Gale asks tiredly. He's begun to grow a stubble, and the dark smudges under his eyes betray his lethargy. He looks much older than his age at this moment, and Madge wistfully imagines a world where Gale could have been a 19-year old that didn't have to worry about providing for 800 people. "Whip them?"

Madge recoils at his words almost instinctively. Suddenly, Gale's cries of pains, followed by whimpers of agony flood her ear channels, and all Madge can see is the white of Gale's shoulder blade, poking through the angry red flesh of his tortured back.

She has to shut her eyes to stop the awful feeling of hopelessness she had felt that day crash back into her. She had just stood there in the square, watching the man she loved, whipped nearly to death, helpless and unable to do a single thing, all title's of Mayor's daughter damned straight to hell.

"Undersee!" Madge opens her eyes to find herself being shaken by a frowning Gale. "I've been saying your name for the past two minutes."

"Sorry," she croaks, her throat still mostly closed. "Just remembering...stuff."

"Stuff?" Gale asks, his frown deepening. Then, his eyebrows fly up in realization. "You were there. That day with...Thread."

Madge can only nod.

"Hell's teeth," Gale mutters, running a hand through his already messy hair.

"That's why…" Gale trails off, looking at Madge very closely. "That's why you brought me the morphling?"

Madge looks up to the sky, which is no longer pink and gold, but a soft blue with a fading red. Is this the time, or the place to confess her feelings? And if she is to do that, does she explain it's more than just an infatuation- that a corner of her mind is always thinking about him, since that day he first showed up on her doorstep years ago with Katniss, a scowl and bucket of strawberries the only thing on his person? Does she tell him since that first encounter, she watched him carefully, and learned that beneath that billowing anger, was a boy who loved his family fiercely, and whose gray eyes were tinted with the visionary of a revolutionary? Does she tell him his ache for a different world had settled between her bones as well, and that's why she gave Katniss the pin that belonged to her murdered Aunt?

Madge shakes her head. This is certainly isn't the place, despite its gorgeous setting, and she isn't sure if there ever will be a time. Not while she is consumed by the grief of being orphaned, and Gale's heart still belongs to Katniss.

"Gale, you and I, and everyone here has lived under a tyrant's rule for all of our lives," Madge says evasively. "Lightning never strikes twice- trying to intimidate everyone with power and fear will only lead to a backlash."

"You need to go up there and tell them what happened last night, but not to scare them from any consequences of being caught, but to remind them that no one can do this alone; that we need to get rid of the 'every man for himself', individualistic mindset, that we have all been brainwashed into adopting."

Gale has an unreadable expression when Madge finishes talking, and she wonders if she's said something egregiously stupid or wrong.

"You're not like what I thought you were," Gale suddenly admits.

"You mean an airheaded priss?"

Gale has the decency to cringe. "Well, not that exactly. But what I mean is that I never knew you were so smart."

Madge shakes her head in refutation. "I'm not smart," she explains. "I just keep quiet and watch those around me. You learn a lot that way. Smart is coming up with things without having to do that"

"Sounds pretty smart to me," Gale insists. "And something I should so myself."

"Wouldn't work," Madge chuckles. "With you quiet, there wouldn't be anyone worth listening to."

Gale tilts his head at this and frowns, and Madge mentally scolds herself once more for complimenting him so blatantly. Here she was scoffing at Gale's subtlety while she herself had the discretion of an intoxicated blind man.

"Anyways," Madge quickly steers the conversation back to the original matter at hand. "Are we in agreement on what you need to say?

"We are," he answers slowly. "I just...What if being Mr. Nice Guy just further encourages the thief? After all, it's only fear of being reprimanded that stops people from breaking the law."

"Is it?" Madge muses. "I think no one particularly wishes to be unlawful, they're just pushed to the point of desperation where they'll do anything to survive. And if you have to break the law to survive, those laws weren't very just in the first place, were they? We only have one rule in our camp: from each according to his ability, to each according to his need, and I hardly find that repressive. No, whoever is the thief, they aren't desperate: they're selfish, and must be reminded that selfishness will only doom you out here."

Gale says nothing to this, no doubt thinking of his own experience with lawbreaking.

Madge is about to encourage him once more when she realizes something herself: there were several large pots, all of which had been emptied. Could one person really eat that much? It had to be at least two or three adults, which made no sense. She could imagine a sole thief, alone and unfaithful, greedily eating the food, but a group of thieves? They'd be better off stealing Gale's bow and running off with supplies, instead of sticking around hungrily as they waited for the camp to scrape together a new meal.

"Well, let's get this over with then," Gale sighs, cutting off Madge's train of thought. Should she tell Gale about her theory? She decides against it; it doesn't matter if there is one thief or a hundred, right?

Still, she remains unsettled all the way back to the camp. Why would the thieves finish off the food completely, if they knew that that would leave them without breakfast and lunch the next day?

"Attention!" Gale bellows, standing atop of a boulder with his hands cupped around his mouth to amplify his voice, formally waking the entirety of the camp.

"There has been a theft," Gale tells everyone somberly once they've all crowded in front of him. "Someone ate all the food that was supposed to be our breakfast today."

The camp collectively gasps, immediately followed by angry shouts and terrified questions.

"How do we know you didn't use us and gave your family our hard earned food!" a man shouts loud enough to be heard over the commotion. Madge recognizes the stout man: Richard Nicon, he was a clerk at the Justice Building.

"Why would I waste my time and energy into teaching strangers how to hunt, when I could have easily hunted enough to feed my family?" Gale nearly shouts, his body shaking with anger once more. Madge steps forward and gently touches his calf. His gray eyes flash to her, but soften when she shakes her head.

"There's no use in playing the blame game. The fact is, no one but the thief knows who the perpetrator is," Gale continues, putting visible effort into keeping his voice level. "I had been hoping to pack camp and begin traveling to 13 today, but we can't do that on empty stomachs. Tonight we'll set up shifts for people to watch over the supplies and head out tomorrow."

"And you," Gale points to a still angry Nicon. "Can take first shift, and even choose who takes the second one."

"Who put you in charge?" Nicon sneers, obviously unhappy at the extra labor assigned to him, but unable to complain about it.

"Yeah," a man Madge doesn't recognize agrees. "We haven't been out here for a day, and shit is already going downhill! Maybe we'd be better off on our own!"

"You answer to only one thing in the woods: death," Gale asserts above the angry man's claim. "If we succumb to chaos now, trust me, it won't be long till most of you will be following her every whim and command."

"I'm not standing up here because I want to be revered as a leader, or a hero," Gale explains. "I'm up here because not only is it the right thing to do, but the most logical one at that. We can overcome this setback, but only if we see each other as equals."

No one can oppose egalitarianism without sounding like a Capitol infiltrator, so everyone more or less agrees with what Gale said, though there are mostly disappointed, angry, and above all fearful faces staring up at him. Once more, the peculiarity of the situation unsettles Madge. Stealing from the camp is literally stealing from your future self. Unless...Madge looks around the camp and quickly discards the idea, of course, the thief was from their camp. Who else could it be?

"The snares set out yesterday should have caught some squirrels and rabbits," Gale tries to mollify. "Children and the Elderly can be fed that while we scavenge for more food today."

With that Gale steps off the boulder and makes his way to where his bow is. Madge's gatherers from yesterday begin to gather around her, looking more confident than they had yesterday, despite today's bad news.

"Let's take about 10 before we head out. Alright?" Madge asks everyone and is met with affirming nods. "Alright, then."

Madge makes her way back to the Hawthorne's tarp and is met with Hazelle holding her spare clothes in her hands.

"I was going to do some laundry today," Hazelle explains. "Why don't you go on and change into these so I can wash what you're wearing?"

"Thank you, I would really appreciate that," Madge tells her honestly. Hazelle just waves her off, and Madge makes her way into the woods that's designated as the female 'relieving' spot.

She really is grateful, wearing the same pantie for two days straight was starting to really gross her out. She used a hole dug by the ever generous 'holey' man, using lake water in her flask to clean herself, before changing into her new clothes.

Tying her hair into a ponytail, Madge hands her soiled clothes to Hazelle with one more grateful smile before jogging over to her gatherers. She quickly realizes that jogging was not a good idea, and immediately slows her pace to a sluggish walk. Ugh, talk about scrambling her already scrambled brain.

Like yesterday, Madge introduces new plants that can be eaten, and answers any questions about whether or not a plant was one she had given the ok for gathering. Unlike yesterday, she had a special task for her special friend.

"You want me to what?" Bristel asks confusedly, wrinkling her nose.

"Just look for anything unusual or out of place," Madge repeats. "Anything that looks different than it did yesterday."

"Are you realizing what you're asking me to do?" Bristel demands. "That's impossible! I may have a photographic memory, but I can't possibly look at every leaf to see if it's 'different' from yesterday Besides, why do you want me to."

"Look," Madge says in a low voice. "It must have been a few people that had eaten the food and I doubt all of them could have been so quiet that no one woke up and caught them. All I'm saying is maybe they came out into the woods to eat, and we should look around for any...incriminating evidence."

"Or maybe," Bristel speculates sarcastically. "They were just hungry, and didn't analyze and plan their every step like how you do, and ate the damn stew."

Madge knows it's childish and petulant to do so, but she immediately withdraws from Bristel. It's a defense mechanism of her's, to close herself off once offended.

"Fine," Madge says coolly, walking quicker than Bristel to put some distance between them. Madge knows she's being unreasonable, but at the same time, she's cursing herself for not keeping her usual wariness of strangers with Bristel.

"Do not tell me you're actually mad," Bristel growls, easily catching up to Madge.

"I'm not," Madge sniffs, lying.

Bristel rolls her eyes. "Oh, come on Madge," she hedges. "I'm your friend, alright? I'm not here to pick on the Mayor's girl."

"I was not picked on!" Madge defends herself, face flaming. Is this her reputation around the District?

"No, you weren't," Bristel agrees. "Because no one was bold enough to approach you. So you began to wall yourself off. Because it's easier to be alone when it's your choice to be so."

Madge feels annoyed at being psychoanalyzed so closely, but everything Bristel's said is the truth.

"I'm sorry," Madge apologizes. "And you're right. I'm not good at this friend thing."

"Maybe you should practice with Thom," Bristel suggests with an eye roll. "Lord knows that moron doesn't know how to act around others either."

Madge laughs, and the rest of the gathering is spent without any further thief talk, though it weighs on Madge heavily the entire time. Their haul today is sadly smaller than yesterday's, but Madge is confident that it will still be enough, if just barely, to feed everyone.

Someone from Gale's group must have brought back the squirrel's the snares had caught while Madge's group was still out, because a scattering of children and the elderly (which, in 12, isn't really all that old) are eating. Madge smiles at the sight of Vick and Posy sitting with other Seam kids, happily munching away. Speaking of Seam kids, Madge looks around and finds Prim on the outskirt of her group, plucking a flower Madge doesn't recognize. Probably medicinal, Madge guesses.

She decides to leave the little girl be and adds her gathering to the haul tarp, where Thalia and a few other women begin their work of dividing and cleaning once more.

"I'll be back," she tells Bristel, who decides to stay today to help with the organizing of foods.

Maybe it's a leftover habit of her Merchant days, but Madge detests being dirty, and walks over to the lake to give herself a quick wipe down.

The lack of breakfast is beginning to catch up to her, the few berries Madge had snuck long digested, and she slowly crouches by the Lake's edge, just taking a moment to look at her reflection as she waits for the hunger pain to pass.

With her hair tied back, it's hard to tell how messy it is, though the loose part of her hair is bushier than it's ever been, her natural curls, which are in manageable waves usually, have become errant coils that will be no doubt very painful to untangle. She's managed to keep her face clean of dirt, despite sleeping on the ground with only a tarp as a barrier, but despite that, there's something...wild about her reflection, as if in just a few days she's transformed from the Mayor's daughter to a woman of the woods: strong and resilient. She wonders if Katniss found the same transformation in her features the first time she returned from the woods.

Madge shakes her head. She's being silly. She's a 17-year-old girl that's been almost pathetically sheltered all her life, with her greatest woe growing up loneliness.

She's about to dip her cupped hands into the water when she catches a glance of her sock. She falls back onto her bottom as she brings her ankle up for closer inspection. Her thick corduroy's had been switched for sturdier cotton pants, which ended about two inches above her ankle, exposing her mid-calf white socks.

Her white socks that had ash smudged onto them.

It was impossible for them to have coal dust on them: she hadn't worn them during the bombing, and her pack had been tightly latched, no dust or ash had gotten in. Which means her sock had gotten ashen today, which is also supposed to be impossible because she hasn't been anywhere near the fires from last night.

Her sock had gotten ash on it sometime during her time the woods today.

Madge ran over to Bristel, even though just jogging earlier that morning had made her nauseous.

"Bristel," Madge says urgently, drawing her friend's attention away from her work. "I need- we um, there's something I need to show you."

The older women look at them curiously, but Bristel seems to pick up on what Madge is trying to convey and stands up quickly.

"Everything alright?" a Seam woman asks Madge, frowning worriedly.

"Everything is fine," Madge assures her, and everyone listening. "I just need a second opinion on something."

"What's going on?" Bristel asks, as soon as they're out of earshot. Madge just nods her head, there are still too many ears that may catch wind of what they're talking about.

"Woods first," is all she says, and Bristel huffs but follows after her regardless.

They've just entered the tree line when they come face to face with Gale's grinning group. Three men are carrying what Madge assumes are three wild dogs. Madge tries not to let the churning of her stomach show on her face.

"We're eating good tonight!" one of the men hoots, a few more hollering in agreement. It seems Madge's disdain for dog is not shared.

The men walk around her and Bristel, but Gale stops in front of them. Madge can see that two of his bows in his quiver are stained red. It doesn't surprise her that he took down two-thirds of the game caught, even while injured.

"Going back into the woods?" Gale asks, frowning as he no doubt notices that neither girl has a pack on her.

"I needed to talk to Bristel about something," Madge answers honestly. At Gale's questioning look, she adds a lie. "Girl stuff."

This quickly shuts off his curiosity and he hurriedly makes his way back to the camp.

"Men," Bristel says amusedly. Madge can't help but grin in agreement.

"Men," Madge agrees.

She considers taking Bristel to the meadow but changes her mind at the last minute. There's something special about that place, and it just seems wrong to share it with someone other than Gale.

Instead, they stop at a fallen tree and settle themselves the horizontal log.

Madge sticks out her left foot. "I have ash on my sock."

Bristel gapes at her incredulously.

 _"Did you bring me out here to discus_ s laundry?" Bristel nearly shouts, face red in anger.

"No!" Madge exclaims. "Think, Bristel! I put these on this morning and they were totally white. I haven't been anywhere near the fire spots in the camp, which means I got this on my ankle while we were out gathering. Why would there be ash in the woods?"

Bristel is quiet as she processes Madge's words.

"You think the thief set up a fire out here?" Bristel finally asks.

Madge nods vigorously. "If we retrace our steps I'm sure we can find the spot, now that we know what we're looking for."

"And then what?" Bristel asks. "What good will a bunch of ash do us?"

Madge deflates at this. She hadn't thought that far.

"It's not much," Madge admits. "But it's our only lead. I really think we should look into this."

"Fine," Bristel sighs. "I'll help. But you owe me."

Madge smirks, Seam people really do see life as one long barter. "You can take the girl out of the Seam, but not the Seam out of the girl, huh?"

"Oh hush up."

They don't talk after that, carefully retracing their every step from today's gathering trail, eyes practically glued to the ground. They both ate a few acorns to help stave off the hunger, though it didn't help much.

Her headache has returned with vicious revenge and Madge is close to just throwing up her hands and calling quits when Bristel shouts triumphantly.

"Look at these leaves!" Bristel points excitedly to a seasonally uncharacteristic pile of green leaves on the ground. A few of them have smudges of black. Both girls share an excited look before dropping to their knees and moving the leaves out of the way.

It's a scattering of ashes.

"We found it!" Madge cries out happily. Bristel grins at her widely.

The excitement dies down a little and Madge takes in her surroundings. They aren't too far from the camp, in fact, she can make out some people between the trees just a few yards away from her. Why would the thieves set up a fire here, where the likelihood of being caught was so high?

"Ah, hell."

"What is it?" Madge asks, and looks at what Bristel is staring it. A tree.

"It's a Sleep Hollow," Bristel answers in a small voice. "Look," she beckons Madge further towards the tree and points to its bark. "Normal tree bark has vertical lines in 'em. The Sleepy Hollow has curvy, horizontal ones."

Madge frowns as she tries to remember where she's heard the name Sleepy Hollow before. It seems eerily familiar, but she can't quite place it.

"It was in one of the games, a few years back," Bristel explains, her eyes panicked. "When it's leaves are burned, it's smoke knocks out anyone that breathes it in."

"And look," Bristel continues, pointing up. "Someone cut a branch off." Sure enough, a branch is cut from the middle, the cut too clean to be written off as an animal tearing it. Someone had used a knife to cut it.

Oh, God.

"So what you're saying," Madge says shakily. "Is that someone not only found and recognized a Capitol creation, but they used it's abilities to knock out our entire camp last night, and took all our food?

"You were right," Bristel whispers, a sudden breeze blowing her hair away from her face, exposing her terrified expression completely.

"That doesn't matter," Madge reassures her friend. "What matters is that the thief hasn't outsmarted us. We'll catch them. Tonight, when they don't expect it."

The panic leaves Bristel's eyes and is replaced with determination.

"You're right," she says agrees. "I'll get Thom. He's an idiot, but reliable."

"Ok," Madge concedes. "But don't tell anyone else, alright?"

"Of course."

Madge tears a few leaves off from a low branch and stuffs them in her pocket. They quickly walk back to camp, with Bristel breaking left to retrieve Thom and Madge to the right where Gale is standing shin deep in the lake, making sure Rory and another boy are setting up the fish line correctly.

"Gale," Madge calls out as soon as she reaches the shore's edge. "Can I talk to you real quick?"

Gale turns around and frowns at her, no doubt to reject her when he catches sight of the worry on her face. At that, he quickly wades over.

"What is it?" he asks urgently, still standing in ankle deep water.

"It's about the thief," Madge whispers, glancing around to make sure no one was eavesdropping. It was vital that they retained the element of surprise.

"Come with me," Gale instructs, stepping out of the water and hastily pulling on his socks before slipping into his worn boots. Madge does as he says and follows him to a small enclave next to the lake, where a bunch of boulders are shoved together that almost offers them a seating place and a small wall separating them from the eyes of the camp.

Once they're seated, Madge pulls out the leaves from her pocket.

"These are from the Sleepy Hollow tree," Madge quickly explains. "Bristel and I found the tree right next to an ash pile. We think the thief burned the leaves, and the smoke knocked everyone out, which allowed them to get the stew so easily."

Now that Madge thought about it, she had fallen asleep almost suddenly last night, even when she thought she would have been awake the entire night.

"Sleepy Hollow?" Gale questions roughly. "What the fuck is that?"

"A tree the Capitol designed," Madge answers patiently. "When you burn its leaves, it releases a chemical that makes the person breathing it unconscious."

Gale pulls a small matchbox from his pant's pocket, and strikes a match, He holds up the small burning stick and Madge raises a leaf and lets it catch on fire.

They both watch silently as the green immediately is burned to a black, a thin trail of smoke rising up in a curly ascent.

Gale leans forward the same time as Madge does, and their foreheads nearly touch as they breathe in the smoke.

The effect is immediate. Madge's eyes droop and she wants nothing more than to take a nap. Vaguely, she's aware of Gale taking the burning leaf from her hand and tossing it into the lake beside them.

It takes a few minutes, but eventually, Madge's mind clears through the artificially induced sleep haze, and blinks, her once more sharp vision finding a scowling Gale.

"Son of a bitch!" Gale growls. "He was going to outsmart us again tonight!"

"But now they won't," Madge placates. "Bristel went to get Thom, between the four of us, I'm sure we can take the thieves down, regardless of how cunning they may be."

"Thieves?" Gale asks. "What makes you think it's more than one guy?"

Madge shrugs. "It's just a hunch," she admits. "How could one guy eat that much stew?"

"If it's more than one guy," Gale frowns further. "Then it probably is best if the four of us are on lookout."

"Glad we agree," Madge says, getting up carefully.

"Yeah," Gale says almost amusedly. "Who would have thought it'd take literally the end of the world for that to happen?"

"It isn't the end of the world," Madge chastises. "Just the beginning of a new one."

Gale gives her an undecipherable look but doesn't say anything. They both return to the main part of camp silently. Rooba had been quick in preparing the dog's because today's stews have already begun to be cooked.

Thom and Bristel are waiting for them.

"So what's the plan?" Thom asks excitedly. "Bash their heads?"

Madge gasps at his violent suggestion.

"No bashing," Gale growls. "We need to catch them in the act and confront them. If there a few of them, and they're armed, the girls can go and wake up some men for back up."

Madge frowns. Even though just moments ago the idea of hurting the thieves had made her uncomfortable, she didn't like being completely written off as a fighter, as true as it was.

"Gale Hawthorne, leader of the free people, emancipator of women," Bristel snarks, but doesn't argue with him.

"Whatever," Gale rolls his eyes. "Meet up by my family's tarp after dinner, we'll head out then."

"And be discreet," Gale adds firmly. "We don't want to tip anything off."

Everyone nods in understanding, including Madge, even though she'll already be at the tarp.

The rest of the day passes in nervous anticipation, and Madge is able to forget her hunger and most of her headache as she imagines scenario after scenario. What if someone bashes Gale's head? She glances over at his napping figure worriedly. Gale can take care of himself, and she needed to have faith in him.

After what seemed like an eternity of playing cards with Vick, Posy, and Rory, who had joined them after hanging out with Prim, it was finally dinner time. Madge stood in line herself this time, and watched hungrily as an old woman ladled the stew into her tin.

She practically inhaled her food and is the first to finish. The dog meat is tough, and little Posy is having a hard time tearing it with her small teeth.

"Why don't I rip up that meat for you?" Madge offers the little girl with a smile.

"Really Sissy?" Posy asks with wide, excited eyes, as if it's some sort of honor to have your meat torn up by Madge.

"Thank you, Madge," Hazelle says in clear relief. "I was about to do so myself."

Madge just waves her off and reaches into Posy's tin, pulling out the two large pieces of meat and ripping them into more bite-sized pieces.

When she's done, she looks up to see Gale staring at her. He looks away, but not immediately. Madge can't help but feel her face grow hot. Was he angry that she was so involved with his sister?

"Hey Madge, will you chew up Vick's food and regargitate into his mouth?" Rory snickers, only to be immediately swatted upside the head by a still eating Hazelle. You could call Hazelle a lot of things, but inefficient wasn't one of them.

"I'm only missing one tooth!" Vick exclaims indignantly. "Mrs. Everdeen says it's normal to lose them still at this age!"

"And it's _'regurgitate',_ idiot," Gale adds. "Not 'regargitate'."

"Oh excuse me, Mr. Schoolmaster," Rory snaps. "What grade did you get in spelling again?"

Madge purses her lips but isn't able to stop her smile completely. She hopes if she ever has a family again, they're like the Hawthorne's. But as she meets Gale's gaze again, this time her looking away quickly herself, Madge knows that's impossible.

Nicon and who Madge assumes is his son have taken up their post by the pots, and Bristel and Thom take this momentary distraction to make their way over to their way over to them.

"Evening, Mrs. Hawthorne," Thom greets warmly, while Bristel just nods politely.

"What's going on here?" Hazelle asks immediately, her eyes narrowing in suspicion as Gale slings on his bow.

"We're gonna have a look out of our own," Gale tells her as he stands up. It's gotten dark now, and with the fires mostly burned out, their movements will be hard to make out.

"Why?" Hazelle questions bluntly. Rory looks like he wants to join, but one look from Gale silences him before he even says anything. Posy and Vick are already cuddled together, Posy fast asleep and Vick nearly there.

Gale just shakes his head and leans down to kiss her forehead. "We'll be fine, promise."

Hazelle doesn't look reassured, but says nothing as the four of them slink off.

Madge and Bristel lead the two boys to the Sleepy Hollow, all of them on guard and vigilant of their surroundings.

"There it is," Madge announces quietly once they reach the tree. Luckily, there's enough moonlight for her to make out the looming tree.

"You girls climb up that tree," Gale points to a tree which has a direct view of the Sleepy Hollow, but is very close to the camp. "The signal is "hell's teeth". As soon as I say that, run back into camp as quietly as you can and get help."

Had the situation been less serious Madge would have laughed at his signal choice.

Bristel is a lot taller than Madge, and is able to climb up the tree with far more ease than she can.

"Come on!" Bristel hisses. "They could get here any moment!"

 _"I know!"_ Madge snaps, hopping up once more, trying to grab onto the lowest branch. She curses whichever ancestor had passed on the wretched short gene to her. "I can't reach!"

Bristel opens her mouth again, no doubt to tell Madge the obvious, when the sound of a twig snapping fills the air.

Madge whirls around immediately, pressing herself to the trunk of the tree as her heart leaps into her throat. Three men emerge from the trees and make their way to the Sleepy Hollow, their eyes completely missing Madge in the darkness.

She can just barely make out the sound of Bristel's quick breathing. With the way her chest is heaving, Madge is sure she's making some noise as well, but out of pure dumb luck, she isn't noticed.

The men have reached the Sleepy Hollow, and one of them climbs up it and begins to cut off a branch. Their steps are careful and there are no words spoken between them: they've clearly done this before.

The man up in the tree throws down the branch, and the tallest of them catches it. Madge has to squint to make out what he does next, but she's fairly certain that he licked his finger and held it up to the air. She remembers Katniss doing something similar: she had been finding the wind direction, as it was a good predictor of which direction birds would fly to when startled.

"Eastbound," the tall man says in a low voice, taking Madge by surprise. That wasn't a 12 accent.

The man in the tree begins to climb down, and the three of them turn around and begin to walk, Madge realizes too late, right towards her.

"Not so fast," Gale's voice cuts through the permeating darkness, effectively stopping the three men in their tracks. He has an arrow already nocked and pointed straight at the tallest man's heart.

"Yeah, not so fast!" Thom adds, pulling out what Madge thinks is a knife.

"Now fellas, let's take this easy," the tall man mediates. Madge frowns, that _definitely_ wasn't a 12 accent, but it wasn't Capitol either.

"Drop your weapons in front you," Gale instructs steely.

"We ain't got no weapons on us…"

As Gale and the tall man tersely negotiate, a quiet rustling noise catches Madge's attention.

There's a fourth man, quietly slinking in between the trees, taking a wider arc so that he can go around the group gathered- and sneak up on Thom and Gale from behind!

 _"Think!"_ Madge commands herself. By the time she runs into camp and gets someone, the man will have already snuck up on them, if she shouts to warn Gale, she'll give away her's and Bristel's spot and the fourth man could easily catch them from this distance. So almost impulsively, she darts forward, ignoring Bristel's panicked gasp.

The man is moving slowly, so Madge is able to catch up to him quickly. His attention is focused completely on his companions and Thom and Gale, so Madge is able to sneak up almost totally behind him. A large fallen branch is just a foot away from her; if she's able to grab it without making too much noise, she'll be able to knock the man out, she's sure of it.

Her fingers close around the bark of the branch, but as she lifts it, a few leaves make a rustling noise, and the man immediately turns around.

There's a dreadful pause before he leaps at her, his fist connecting painfully with her cheek, but not before Madge is able to raise the branch, which collides painfully into the man's torso.

The man makes a strangled noise as Madge cries out in pain. This immediately catches the attention of the talking men just two trees over. Suddenly, Bristel appears next to her and snatches up the branch Madge had dropped in pain, poising it threateningly over the fallen man's head.

"What the fuck is going on?" Gale roars, Thom, and the other three men right behind him.

"A buddy of theirs was sneaking up on you, Madge stopped him," Bristel tells him, not taking her eyes off the man still writhing on the ground.

Madge removes her hand from her stinging cheek and opens her watery eyes. It feels like her cheekbone has split into two, and the entirety of the left side of her face feels as if it's been stretched to its last seam.

"You weren't supposed to come John!" one of the men shouts. "First you break your rib, and then you come out here acting like a jackass!"

Ah, that explains why her single blow had struck such damage to John.

"Didn't know she was a girl," John wheezes. "Don't hit ladies."

"I do apologize," the tall man says sincerely. "We ain't bad folks, we were just trying to break up your camp because so many people in one spot is bound to attract Capitol attention, and we aren't in the position to run or fight, not with John's rib busted."

"First, you try to starve us," Gale seethes through barely concealed fury. "And then, one of your men strike my woman in the _face_ \- and you think I'll _forgive_ you?"

Gale nocks his arrow again and though it makes Madge's cheek feel as if it's shattering, Madge shouts. "Don't, Gale!"

He doesn't put his arrow back in his quiver, but he doesn't shoot either, forearm shaking as he strains to not let the arrow fly free.

"One thing at a time," Thom says, placing a hand in both reassurance and warning on Gale's shoulder. "What do you mean, break us up?"

"If we really wanted to doom y'all, we would have just stolen your bow there and other tools," the tall man explains. "But like I said, we ain't evil. We finished off the stew so y'all would suspect each other and have a fallout, going in separate, smaller ways."

They're all close enough for Madge to see the faces, especially with John at her foot. They all have dark skins, much darker than anyone in Seam, paired with their accents, and their obvious knowledge of obscure plants, it's obvious where they're from.

"You're from 11," Madge croaks, unable to open her mouth wide enough to talk normally.

The tall man turns to her and nods solemnly. "Yes, Miss. And I do apologize for my son John's action, boy has more air than brains in that thick skull of his."

"You recognized the Sleepy Hollow," Bristel says suddenly. "That was impressive."

The man who had scolded John earlier speaks up. "We're from 11," he boasts. "Ain't no one that can live off the land better than us."

Madge raises her eyebrows at this, and when she meets Gale's gaze, she knows he's thinking the same thing. Reluctantly, he lowers his bow.

"You don't need to fight the Capitol," Gale tells them. "At least not yet. District 13 exists, and that's where we're headed."

From his spot on the ground, John gasps. "But how?"

Gale shrugs. "I'm not sure," he admits. "But I once met two people traveling there a few years ago."

"Well I'll be…" the tall man breathes, seemingly at a loss for words.

"You said you could live off the land," Thom remarks casually. "Could you have others, say, oh, I don't know, this camp, live off the land?"

The tall man understands what Thom is asking and shakes his head. "If you let us travel with you we can certainly help with scavenging."

"Not so fast," Gale interrupts. "Tomorrow, the camp will decide if you can stay. We'll take a vote"

"Oh bother," John mutters, earning him a quick jab of the branch from Bristel.

"Alright," the tall man agrees. "I'm Lewis, by the way. These are my sons Joshua, Samuel, and you've already met John there."

"Where are you camped?" Gale asks, not bothering with pleasantries.

"Two miles south, by a stream," Lewis answers.

"Stay one more night there then, and come back at dawn. Don't expect breakfast either," Gale tells the four men, finally returning his arrow to his quiver.

"I love making new friends!" Thom chirps, as Joshua and Samuel come over and help their brother up. Bristel retains her tight grip on the branch.

"Thank you, and again, we're sorry about everything," Lewis apologizes. "I hope you understand why I did what I did."

No one says anything to this. Madge tries not to think what she would have done in his place. She isn't sure if she's ready to find out if her morality is good or ambiguous.

Once the four 11 men are gone, the adrenaline leaves her body completely, and Madge groans in pain as she prods her cheek with a fingertip. The blunt force of the punch has revitalized her headache, and her head is spinning so quickly she nearly tips over.

Immediately Bristel winds an arm around her shoulder, and Madge leans gratefully into her friend.

"Hell's teeth," Gale swears as he comes to stand in front of them, gently taking her chin in his hand to look at her cheek. "I should have whopped him."

"Just a bruise," Madge says through clenched teeth. Technically, the headache isn't really even John's fault.

"Want me to kiss it better?" Thom asks, also standing in front of her now.

"Piss off," Gale snaps before Madge can answer.

"How's that concussion?" Bristel asks worriedly, ignoring the two boys.

"Bad," Madge admits. It feels like her brain is being strangled.

"Here," Gale says, and suddenly she's being lifted in the air.

"I'm fine!" Madge squeaks, not quite believing that Gale is carrying her. Sure, he had carried her during the bombing, but that had been roughly and over his shoulder, not like this, held securely in his arms. It makes her heart race almost quicker than when she had found the Lewis and his sons in the woods

"Sure you are," Gale scoffs. "That guy was twice your size, I'm surprised you didn't…" Gale doesn't finish his thought, though his grip on her tightens.

"Goodnight then," Bristel says, still looking at Madge with worried eyes. Madge tries to give her a reassuring smile, but ends up grimacing from the pain that causes.

"It's already a good night for Gale," Thom smirks. "He's got-" Thom is cut off by a well-placed elbow in the rib from Bristel.

Gale walks them to his family and Madge's eyes slide shut as she finds herself losing her battle in pain tolerance. At the moment, she wants nothing more than to slip into the blissful state of sleep, where she can't feel anything.

She's vaguely aware of Gale setting her down and Hazelle's stricken voice saying something urgently. The last thing she is cognizant of is a cool, damp cloth lain across her cheek

 _A/N:_

So we know who the thieves are now! Did anyone see that coming? Thanks for reading!


	7. Take Off

_She's standing, totally naked, in the Lake, but it's so foggy that she's almost totally concealed. The usually clear waters are dark under the blue indigo sky, and the water moves against her skin in an almost velvety feel._

 _Then, breaking through the fog like the first ray of dawn is Gale. She can only see from his shoulders up, but his dark skin is just as bare as hers._

 _She reaches out an arm towards him, silently beckoning him towards her. The waters are still, but each ripple holds an ominous tremor that scares Madge. She wants to get out, and she knows only Gale can carry her out._

 _He's close enough now that she can see the beautiful grays of his eyes. They're the gray one see's when the sun duels a storm cloud. They're the gray of smoke and heat. They're a gray she can't look away from._

 _His ink black hair contrasts sharply against the milky white fog, and as he comes to stop just before her, the brown of his skin nearly brings her tears of joy at the thought of his strong, Earthy arms coming around her and pulling her from the sinister waters._

 _He moves slowly, and the fog parts around him of their own violation, as if the very heat of his body vaporizes the suspended water particles around him. As Madge watches him draw nearer, the entire world seems to stop, and she knows at that moment that she loves him beyond the context and space and time: her heart was his before there was the universe, and she knows it will be his just as much when all that exists is nothingness._

 _His hands are about to cup her waist when a large screeching noise comes from the other end of the lake, as if there is a door separating them from the rest of the world, and it is being pried open._

 _Both Gale and Madge look to see the source of the noise and are found with the sight of the surrounding woods on fire, the flames whipping the edge of the Lake tauntingly._

 _As if he's forgotten she's there, Gale turns and begins to walk towards the fire, like he is a penny, and the burning trees are a magnet._

 _Madge tries to call out to him, but there is no longer any voice within the column of her throat. She tries to follow him, but the water tugs her back. Undeterred, she continues to thrash forward, only to stop when she realizes, in horror, that the water is dissolving her._

 _No- it's not dissolving her, for that would require her becoming one with the water. Instead, the water is tearing her apart, and the pieces of her float away, separated by the unforgiving waters, never to be whole again._

Madge wakes up, thankfully very much still in one piece, to a bright blue sky staring down at her.

A quick look confirms her fear that she's overslept, as there's no one on the tarp beside her. She tries to sit up, only to be hit by a rather nasty load of vertigo.

"Just lie down," a tired voice tells her. "Before you do even more damage to yourself."

Madge tilts her head to see Mrs. Everdeen sitting a little way from the tarp, her arms wrapped around her knees almost childishly.

"Why," Madge begins to ask why Mrs. Everdeen is babysitting her but stops when she realizes she doesn't have a single polite way of doing so.

"Everyone is judging the men from 11," Mrs. Everdeen answers anyways. "Hazelle wanted me to make sure you don't get yourself killed in the meantime."

Ignoring the older woman's obvious bitterness for the moment, Madge turns her aching head to see indeed that the entire camp is gathered, with Lewis and his sons seemingly pleading their case. From what Madge can vaguely make out, they don't have the people of 12 convinced.

Madge forces herself to her knees, pausing as she literally has to swallow her vomit. She needs to get over there and help Lewis persuade the camp: their addition could be invaluable.

"I was like you once," Mrs. Everdeen whispers, bitterness replaced by sorrow. "I threw everything away for a Seam boy. And look what that's done."

Madge pauses in her struggle to get up to look at Katniss's mother in shock.

"I see you, running around, trying to convince him that you're worthy of his heart," Mrs. Everdeen divulges disgustedly. "Take my advice: it will only break _your_ heart."

"You're wrong," Madge says hoarsely, the entirety of her face and head hurting so badly her entire body is trembling. "This isn't all for Gale. I exist outside of him."

"But you don't want to!" Mrs. Everdeen snaps. "You think I don't see the longing in your eyes? The timidity of your hands when you speak to him?"

"I _do_ ," Madge insists, though she's deeply unsettled to know Mrs. Everdeen has been watching her so closely, and who knows for how long. "I want to do the right thing. I need to honor my Father and the rebellion."

The impatient anger on Mrs. Everdeen's face breaks into malicious, barely concealed fury at the mention of rebellion. Madge regrets her word choice immediately. The rebellion killed her daughter, it's only understandable that Mrs. Everdeen would want to damn the word and anyone associated with it.

A shout from the congregated camp diverts their attention. It seems that the District has begun to grow impatient listening, but Lewis refuses to relent. Madge can make out phrases like _not one of us_ , and _go back to 11_ , which only tears at Madge's heart. They may have escaped from the Capitol, but the Capitol still lurks within their hearts.

"M'am," an entirely new, male voice says from behind Madge. Madge turns around and nearly throws up all over again.

A soldier. His gray hair is neatly combed and his long face is utterly expressionless.

The Capitol has found them, and they were going to kill them all.

Madge is about to open her mouth to scream when the soldier gestures to the patch on his right forearm: a Mockingjay.

"I'm Major Jib Hoppock, from District 13."

Madge is sure that if she looked over, Mrs. Everdeen's mouth would be just as widely agape as hers is. She quickly snaps out of her shock; a delayed response is a failed response.

"Prove it," is all Madge says, as her mind tries to think of a way to get Mrs. Everdeen to get up and run and inform the camp.

Hoppock nods as if he expected this.

"I can't prove it to you, M'am, but if you could take me to your leader, I could take them to the waiting hovercraft fleet and they could decide for themselves if we're legitimate or not."

"Fleet?" Madge gasps, her body seized in icy fear. There was an entire army somewhere in the woods, which completely ruled out any plans of making a wild dash. They were surrounded.

"All non-combative," Hoppock assures her. "This is strictly a search and rescue mission. As you can see, I don't even have any weapons on my person."

From what Madge can see, this was true, which seemed to lend truth to his claim.

"Take off your shirt, and empty your pockets," Madge commands. Just because she can't see any weapons doesn't mean he isn't concealing one.

Hoppock frowns but does as she says. Sure enough, under his uniform is a white sleeveless undershirt, and his arms are totally bare. His pockets turn up empty as well.

Madge glances over at Mrs. Everdeen, who's been silent during the entire exchange. She looks as if she's seen a ghost. Useful.

Madge carefully considers her options. While it's totally possible he's a Capitol spy, what would be the point of sending him in? A hovercraft with one bomb would be more than sufficient to take down the entire camp. Unless they wanted intel before they wiped everyone out? But what information could they have that the Capitol itself did not have access to?

"Alright," Madge concedes. "I'll take you to our leader, but give me your shirt, and keep your hands in the air the entire time."

Hoppock doesn't argue, though he does look a bit offended.

"And walk in front of me," Madge adds strictly.

Her legs are still shaky, but she has a renowned purpose, and she'll be damned if a punch to the face from the night before costs the entire District a free ticket to 13.

They make their way over the crowd, which has gotten louder and angrier. Hoppock actually couldn't have had better timing, if things work out, then Lewis and his son's will be safe too.

Madge is about to shout for the camp's attention when someone notices Hoppock, and like a domino effect, everyone else does too, and everyone falls silent.

"Who is this?" Gale demands, stepping forward.

Madge comes up to stand next to Hoppock. "He says he's from 13," Madge tells everyone. She holds out his shirt to show the Mockingjay badge. "He says that he can take us there."

Hoppock repeats what he had told her, no one says a word as Gale frowns, considering the Major's words.

"I'll go with you," Gale says finally.

And that's how Madge ends up where she is now, head in Hazelle's lap as she fights an immobilizing headache that only grows with each second Gale is gone.

"He'll be just fine," Hazelle assures herself or Madge, she isn't sure. "Just fine..."

"Ma?" Vick asks tentatively. "How do we know that things...will be ok in 13?"

"Because if something isn't ok, then you can change it so that it is," Hazelle answers immediately. Madge thinks of her strange dream from this morning, and the hopeless, sinking feeling it had left her with. Can she change herself?

"I'm sure everyone in 13 will be so freaked out that you have a missing tooth at 10 that they'll leave you alone," Rory teases.

"I'm not gonna lose any teeth," Posy says confidently over Vick's indignation.

"Gale!" Rory exclaims, catching sight of his brother returning. Posy jumps up excitedly and runs towards him.

"Pack your things," Gale announces to everyone with a large smile, stroking Posy's head gently as she clings to his leg. "We're going to 13."

No one seems to want to argue that this could all be a ruse; they're too happy to think of the what ifs of the situation. Madge wants to rejoice as well, but her headache continues to brutalize her.

"Ma, can you get Madge's things?" Gale asks once he reaches them. "Hoppock has a few army medics that can look at her while we're waiting for everyone."

"Absolutely," Hazelle answers immediately, gently patting Madge's good cheek.

Madge closes her eyes as Gale bends down to pick her up.

"I can walk," Madge says through clenched teeth.

"And I can fly," Gale retorts sarcastically.

Madge doesn't say anything, thinking back to her dream where Gale hadn't picked up her and left her to drown. It contrasts so sharply with reality, as he easily carries her through the thick forest foliage.

She wonders why Gale is suddenly nice and caring to her. Has she proven to be a reliable friend to him?

"Does it hurt real bad?" Gale asks, confusing her silence for pain instead of contemplation.

"I'll live," Madge jokes, unable to find the courage to ask him if he sees her as a friend or not.

They arrive at the 13 fleets, where several hovercrafts patiently wait for its passengers. Gale takes her inside of one, and Madge isn't given much time to admire the mechanical wonder that the interior boasts as she's lead into a room where a young man in a similar uniform to Hoppock is standing.

"First Sergeant Andrew Michals," the young man introduces himself as Gale lies her down on a medical examination table. "What seems to be the problem?"

"She got a concussion three days ago, and yesterday she was punched in the face," Gale answers for her, his voice growing angry at the end of his sentence. "She was getting better, but then…"

Michals makes a humming noise and begins to rummage around in a small cabinet. He retrieves a syringe and a corked vial.

"I'll inject this directly into the base of your skull," Michals tells her. "It'll temporarily shrink your blood vessels and reduce overall pain. Any other neurological treatment will have to be done at the hospital."

Madge nods her consent, although the idea of being stabbed by a needle in the most vulnerable part of her body terrifies her. Michals inserts the needle of the syringe into the cork of the vial and raises the plunger so that medicine enters the tip.

"Sit up," Michals instructs her once the vial has been emptied. Madge tries to push her palms against the bed, but her arms feel disconnected from her body. Gale takes her shoulders in his hand and pulls her forward until her forehead is resting against his sternum.

She can feel the subdued beat of his heart and the smell of his sweat as Michals moves away her hair and places the tip of the syringe at the base of her skull. The actual insertion just feels like a pinch, but as the medicine enters her bloodstream, she experiences a strange, tingling feeling, and a pressure that almost feels as if it's pushing down her headache.

Gale leans her back down and Madge's eyes slip shut.

"It'll take about two hours to get back to 13, I recommend sleeping during that time," Michals says. "I'll apply this numbing cream to your cheek."

"Thank you," Madge murmurs, growing drowsier by the minute.

So, with her cheek numb and the rest of her body tight, Madge falls into a strange, drug-induced sleep.

* * *

She's startled awake, and gasps at the sudden proximity to unfamiliar dark eyes.

"I told you that's creepy," a woman's voice scoffs somewhere to her left. The dark eyes move away, and Madge is oriented enough to recognize they belong to Mikhal.

Mikhal frowns at the mystery woman and then looks back at Madge. "We're going to be landing soon, Officer Tallahan will take you to your seat."

Madge looks to Tallahan, who turns out to be a strawberry blonde that doesn't look too much older than Madge. Tallahan ignores Madge to glare at Mikhal.

"So it's just Tallahan now?" the bristling Officer asks. "Forgot my first name already, huh Andrew?"

"For the love of 13- Susy can we discuss this when we're off-duty?" Mikhal implores exasperatedly. Tallahan only scoffs before finally turning to Madge.

"Follow me."

Apparently, Mikhal only brings out the worst in Susy, because she's actually quite nice to Madge once they're out of the cramped room. Madge is actually grateful she glimpsed at what she assumes was a lover's quarrel, it makes the people of 13 more human, and less mysterious, taking the edge off this whole thing, if just by a little.

"I was devastated when I found out about 12," Susy reveals as they make their way to the civilian hanger. "Both my Mom's parents died in 13's bombings. They hadn't been able to evacuate in time."

"Mine too," Madge whispers, hugging her sides tightly.

This makes Susy stop walking, and she looks at Madge with wide eyes.

"I'm so sorry!" she cries. "I had no idea, I-"

"It's ok," Madge quickly reassures her with a small smile. "It wasn't your fault."

Susy doesn't look too convinced of this, but she nods anyways and opens a door behind her, revealing the large hangar that was lined with filled seats.

"I'm sorry about your parents," Susy says one more time, before she goes off to no doubt her own seat for the aircrew.

Madge steps into the large floor area and looks for an empty seat. Whatever Mikhal had given her was extremely effective, because there's hardly a lingering trace of her headache, and her cheek is only a little sore.

"Madge!" someone calls out, and Madge looks over to see Thom waving her over, Bristel on his one side, and an empty seat on his other.

Making her way over to them, Madge slips into the seat with relief. She's never been in an aircraft before, and she can't help but feel slightly anxious being thousands of feet up in the air.

"How're you feeling?" Bristel asks, leaning over Thom to look at her as she fumbles with the seatbelt.

"Good as new," Madge says, though her tone is frustrated. Why are these belts so complicated?

"Here," Thom offers, reaching down to buckle her in. "A hot soldier lady had to help me with mine."

"Thank you," Madge tells him gratefully when she feels a pair of eyes on her. She looks up to see Gale glaring at her. Madge instantly feels guilty, he had literally carried her to receive medical attention, and she didn't even have the manners to tell him she was much better.

She smiles and waves at him, hoping this relays her message of good health to him, but he just looks away. Hazelle catches her eye and gives her a warm smile before leaning over to say something to Gale.

"Did something happen?" Madge asks with a frown.

"What do you mean?" Bristel asks, shoving Thom's face back so she can get a clearer view of Madge's face.

Thom retaliates by shoving Bristel's face away. "Yeah, what's up?"

"I don't know, Gale just looks upset about something," Madge whispers, mindful of the eavesdropping Merchant woman beside her.

"That's kinda Gale's default face, in case you hadn't noticed," Thom laughs.

"Nothing happened which I'm aware of," Bristel actually answers her, forcibly holding Thom's head back.

Madge purses her lips. Why does he look so sullen then?

Several red lights flash on, and a large _dinging_ noise echoes through the hangar, followed by a voice over an intercom.

"We'll be landing in five minutes, if you aren't wearing your seatbelt, please make sure that you are now."

Madge pushes away her worries of Gale. Thom is kinda right, Gale's default expression is a scowling one.

As the hovercraft begins to descend, both Madge's stomach and heart leap up to her throat. She grips the edge of her seat tightly, as the hopeful excitement of entering District _13_ blooms within her.

This was it. She had survived the bombings and the woods. She had done it, and if she could live through this, she could do anything.

She was slightly jostled when the hovercraft makes a touchdown, but other than that, it had been a smooth landing. The large doors opened with the sound of industrial pulleys creaking, and Madge had her first view of 13:

They were indoors, in some large sort of storage area for hovercrafts. The lights that had been flashing red earlier turned green, and people take this as a signal to unbuckle themselves. Although she didn't need his help, Madge lets Thom unbuckle her, only because it made him really happy to do so.

Her first step out of the hovercraft was a weighty one, the hard concrete under her foot a welcome reminder that she was no longer in the air, and an unbelievable fact that she was actually standing in District 13.

There's a line of tables set up, each with two people seated at it. Workers from 13 organized the District into lines to be registered at the tables.

"What's this all about?" Bristel grumbles. They're towards the end of a line, and though it isn't moving

"Probably beauractric," Madge guesses.

"And you think I know that word...why?" Thom asks her, and she and Bristel share a look. Thom's parents are registered first, then him, then Bristel's parents, Bristel, and then finally her. Madge has heard the questions enough times that she isn't really nervous when it's her turn.

"Name?" a bespeckled woman asks Madge without looking up from her tablet.

"Margaret Undersee."

"As in s-e-a?" she asks, finally looking up. Her face has the linings of old age, but other than that, she looks healthy.

"As in s-e-e."

"Age?"

"18," Madge lies. A girl in front of her had told them she was 16 with no parents and she was assigned to the District's orphanage, and Madge had no intention of ending up there herself.

"Any family members?"

"No," Madge answers tightly.

"Extend your finger."

Madge does as she says, and watches as the woman takes a small, hand-held device that looks almost like a thermometer, prick her finger and scan the droplet of blood that leaks out from the tiny wound.

"No diseases. Do you require any immediate medical attention?"

"I'm alright, thank you," Madge says, and she really is. A bit sore, but ready to go.

"Exit to the doors to your left, there you'll see several pods, enter one that says 'vacant'. If none of them do, wait until one does." the woman instructs her. "Next."

Madge exits the huge garage-like space and enters a room that isn't very wide, but very long. Along the opposite wall are doors with glowing signs above them that says, 'IN USE'. There are several women in the room with her, all waiting.

One of the door's sign changes so it reads 'VACANT', and a woman quickly hurries and enters it. Madge hadn't been able to see what was inside, so she sighs and begins to pace in nervous anticipation.

After about 15 minutes, she's finally able to enter through a door herself and finds herself in a nearly completely tiled room.

It's a shower.

Suddenly, a silver slot on the wall opens, and a robotic voice says, "Please remove all your clothing and place them into the shoot."

Are there cameras watching her? She considers disobeying the order to see if they'd notice, but then decides that isn't really the first impression she wants to make with 13, so she dutifully removes her clothes and lets them fall down the shoot. She wonders if she'll ever see them again.

"Please step to where the black X is on the ground," the robotic voice says, and Madge looks down to see indeed there's a black tiled X on the ground. She walks over until she's standing on it, finding herself the exact center of the room.

"State your name," the robotic voice asks.

"Margaret Undersee."

As she awaits further instructions, she's suddenly hit with warm water from what it seems like every direction.

She coughs and splutters as she finds an angle where there isn't a water jet stream aimed directly at her face. She begins to wash her hair and finds that the water is sudsy. After a few minutes, the water momentarily pauses, before starting up again, this time with no soap mixed into it.

When that's all done with and Madge is left soaking wet, a large whirling noise starts and she is suddenly being dried with blasts of warm air. This is no doubt that this is the most invasive, annoying shower, she has ever had.

Finally, that ends, and both Madge and the room are completely dry once more. As irritating as that had been, Madge is grateful that she's totally clean once more, never mind her hair is probably a poofy circle around her head from the blow drying.

"Scanning," the robotic voice says right before a horizontal red beam crosses over her body twice.

"Height: 61 inches. Weight: 110 pounds. Bust: 34 inches. Waist: 24 inches. Hips: 38 inches. Shoe size: 5."

"What sort of perverted-"

Madge's angry question is answered when out of the same slot she had thrown her clothes, a new pair came out. Everything made more sense now.

Pulling on the drab gray one piece and white shoes, Madge smoothed her hair as best as she could. She had luckily kept the hair tie around her wrist and pulled that off to tie her fluffy hair into a ponytail.

Once she thought she looked presentable, which was really a guess since there wasn't a mirror, Madge goes over and opens the door opposite from the one that she had entered from.

Outside is the rest of the District, waiting in a queue to meet with a 13 worker who will assign and take them to their new living quarters, while a large screen goes over the rules and procedures associated with living in 13. Madge manages to find Hazelle and the kids and makes her way over to them.

"I can't tell you how happy I am to be clean again," Madge jokes lightly as a greeting.

Hazelle gives her a tight-lipped smile. Rory is frowning at her with a mixed expression while Posy and Vick watch the screen. Gale is nowhere to be seen.

"Where's Gale?" Madge asks, beginning to feel dread from their expression.

"With Katniss."

 **END ARC 1**

 _A/N:_ And there we are, the end of the first arc! As of now, I think this story will be two arcs long, followed up by a sequel. It's not written out, but I'm sure that arc 2 will be longer than this one, so this isn't the halfway point yet.

How did I do? Was this chapter a bit anti-climactic? Anything you wish I hadn't done? Something you wish I that I do in the next arc? Let me know!


End file.
